Posts Tagged ‘short sale investing’

Dealing With The Deed-in-Lieu Of

Monday, September 6th, 2010

Recently, Bank of America sent out nearly 100,000 solicitations to distressed homeowners offering them a chance at a deed-in-lieu transaction. “Deed-in-lieu” refers to giving the deed to your home to a lender in order to circumvent the foreclosure process. You get to walk away from your home, and the lender declares the debt resolved because you returned the home, your collateral. Many lenders have announced that they will offer a variety of incentives for this type of transaction because it saves them a great deal of time and money in processing costs even though they may take a hit when they try to resell the home in today’s market.

Short sale investors see this new trend with concern, especially since some lenders have said that they find deed-in-lieu transactions preferable to short sale transactions since they don’t take as long. Also, homeowners who are going to lose their homes anyway may find this to be a more acceptable alternative since it is being portrayed as a route to 100% resolving the debt rather than worrying about being followed up with later for the remainder just when you have gotten back on your feet.

Short sale investors, should not be too worried about this. For starters, there are tons homes that will still go through the short sale process, and not all circumstances are going to warrant or qualify for a deed-in-lieu. You can also point out to homeowners who may be backing out of a short sale that unless the wording in their deed-in-lieu a arrangement states that the debt is considered entirely resolved by the return of the property, which is not always the case.

In addition, both deed-in-lieu and a short sale do go on your credit history and impact your credit score in a negative way, a deed-in-lieu can remain on your history for a full 7 years. According to new legislation, short sales may be removed as soon as 3 years in some instances.

In fact, some homeowners may opt for a deed-in-lieu transaction in place of a short sale transaction with you. Nevertheless, the current deed-in-lieu “push” could actually be good, since it may put a notch in homes that lenders were unwilling to short sell anyway. Just be willing to answer questions about this sort of transaction, then keep doing your short sales and helping individuals in trouble resolve their housing scenarios.

If you haven’t checked out www.FreeShortSaleCourse.com you are really missing out.

Short Sale Hazards When Dealing With Rental Properties

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

As a short sale investor, you will often deal with landlords who may be facing foreclosure on rental properties. These short sale deals can be very attractive to traditional short sale negotiators who may have been “locked out” of many deals because of homeowner participation - voluntary and mandatory - in federal short sale programs. However, there are some complications that can occur with rental properties that may not be an issue with first or even second homes that are owned and inhabited by the property owner.

One of the biggest concerns for landlord-sellers bargaining short sales is that even in states that do not assess an income tax on conventional short sales in which a homeowner transacts a short sale on the home that he or she lives in, the short sale of a rental property often will result in the issuance of a 10-99 that will be viewed by the state as income. There are ways to deal with this and one is to appeal it, but when dealing with landlords you must remember that these individuals are subject to a different set of tax laws if they are short selling rental properties.

Also, landlords may find themselves in a distressed situation thanks to insurance issues. Particularly if they have made a claim recently, the insurance company may have hiked their rates or even canceled their policies. Due to plummeting equity in many properties and a number of natural disasters in recent months, finding new insurance for rental properties has been for the most part difficult.

While this may not impact your end buyer, it can effect you or another investor who is purchasing the property to hold or season. Make sure that the property is insured and insurable by you even if you do not plan to hold onto it.

As the rules and regulations on short sales change nearly day-to-day, investors much keep abreast of the changes. Only in this manner can you truly help distressed property owners who need a short sale in order to salvage their savings and exit a property.

PS if you haven’t checked out my Free Short Sale Course you are really missing outwww.FreeShortSaleCourse.com

Short Sale Disclosures: Critically Important Tools For Protection

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

Short sales will be critical to the recovery of the housing market. Banks and homeowners alike are relying on the short sale process to prevent the foreclosure tide from swamping the market and the lenders themselves. But as short sales are increasingly regulated and the target of more and more media focus, it becomes increasingly important for short sale negotiators - especially if they are real estate investors rather than the next homeowner - to apply stringent rules for full disclosure to their short sale transactions.

The most straightforward way to handle this disclosure is to include the fact that you are doing a short sale in the contract that deals with the transaction. Do not leave anything to chance. Note that you are doing a short sale, how the lenders are going to be satisfied and make sure that the contract itself allows for the resale of the property. You will be on firmer ground if you decide to “flip” the short sale if both the lender and the seller are aware that you may opt to do this.

In addition, many investors and real estate agents are recommending that you stay in touch with all lenders, even if they are the holders of secondary or tertiary loans and are less likely to get any direct satisfaction from a short sale. Making sure that the negotiation meets everyone’s needs or at least addresses their stake in the property can help prevent lenders from coming after homeowners later for the payoff of the remainder of the investment.

Also when you are listing the property in MLS, you may also want to disclose the fact that the property is a short sale - or that the owner, lender or both or open to a short sale - in the listing. Not only will this attract more attention for your listing since short sales are generally viewed to be a good way to purchase a property at a discount, but it will also cover your disclosure bases and make sure that there is no question in anyone’s mind that the transaction that you are doing is a short sale.

Ultimately, you can create a great deal of wealth, resolve serious financial crises for people in need, and help stem the tide of foreclosures in the country by being an effective short sale negotiator. However, you must be very careful to “dot your I’s and cross your T’s” when you are doing a short sale. Make sure that every aspect of your behavior and your negotiations are beyond reproach to establish the best short sale transactions you possible can and bring satisfaction to every party in the transaction, including yourself.

P.S. If you haven’t signed up for my Free Short Sale Course yet, then you are really missing out, go here: FreeShortSaleCourse.com

Video Marketing Secrets Tips - How Does the Paradox Blogs And Real Estate Lead to Your Better Real Estate Marketing

Friday, February 5th, 2010

The boom of the internet has enabled successful real estate social marketing for real estate professionals who want to utilize the web for marketing their property listings and business. Being basically a visual medium, real estate marketing has become more popular with video marketing. You can showcase your property listings in the form of virtual tours online in the form of video content that can attract potential real estate consumers. However, it is also important to consider the aspect of video editing for effective video marketing. Some good quality video editing resources are Camtasia and Sony Vegas.

As a video editing resource Camtasia is very popular. It produces HD-quality video content for the internet and for mobile devices. It does not have any tweaks or interruptions. It generates sparkling clear videos with file sizes that are compact in nature. With one single click, Camtasia has the ability to record all the activities on your desktop. This improves the compilations and saving of all your files.

As a video editing tool, Camtasia will enable you to convert your real estate videos onto pages on the web. This will let you direct all your targeted traffic there. Since web surfers usually respond better to videos, the rates of conversion become substantially high. Users feel a strong connection and relation since they can both watch and hear all that you are saying and showing.

With Camtasia for video editing, you can also produce multi media presentations that incorporate all senses since using all senses leads top an increase in sales. Many skeptical customers can also be easily impressed with this method. Your main aim should be to create a video that clearly demonstrates the utility of your product.

Sony Vegas is another common and reputed name for a video editing tool. It is well known for being a good program and is said to have more capability and usefulness than other freebies. Since it has updated features and numerous benefits, many real estate agents have been using this software to generate the best of their videos.

The collection of Vegas Pro 9 is the name given to the latest released collection of Sony Vegas. This incorporates two important and useful applications that work together competently for providing an automatic and improved environment for broadcast and video professionals. This method of video editing is fast achieving more popularity than the other options found in the market.

A progressive and robust platform that is available for content formation and production is provided by Sony Vegas’ comprehensive suite. With better-quality special effects processing, complementary editorial tools, wide format support and incomparable audio support, the Pro collection of Vegas improves and augments your work flow. From the basic camera to the Blu-ray Disc, from acquisition to the delivery, this collection provides all that you require from good quality video editing software.

Therefore with the above-mentioned software for video editing, you can achieve outstanding results for your online real estate social marketing. With these software you can take your video marketing to greater heights in terms of success. Video editing is essential for good promotion of real estate listings. You can consider some other software as well if they match your requirements and budget.

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25 Your Guide to an Effective Real Estate Marketing: Focus on Your Customers, Not on Yourself

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Oh yes. You’ve poured your heart and soul into your business. You’ve spent sleepless nights on ways to increase business. You’ve spent 12 16 even some 20-hour days working on keeping it alive. And now, I’m telling you, as you sit down to write your copy that it’s all about your customer - not you. How dare I?

Ah, but it’s so true. If you write your next mailing from the perspective of your ego, your reader will see what through this. Don’t take this personally, but they really don’t give a hoot about you. They don’t care how long you’ve been in business. They don’t care if you’ve won any awards. And they certainly don’t care how many employees you do or don’t have.

Any reader would notice if your writing seems to focus on yourself. Trust me; they really don’t want to read anything about you. Your achievements don’t really matter to them. So avoid talking about yourself and start focusing on them instead.

What they care about is about is getting rid of their problems or being happier. Hence, your real estate direct mail will only get their interest if you can offer a satisfying solution to their pain or difficulty in selling their homes fast and at a fair price.

Potential customers are turned off by real estate marketers who tens to self-promote instead of giving the solutions once and for all. Avoid imitating other investors who constantly say something good about themselves.

Why do people want to sell their houses quickly. Yes, sometimes it’s because they are looking at foreclosure. But sometimes it’s because one partner has been transferred. The family can’t afford to buy another house in another state or city until the first one sells. They’re anxious to sell to reunite the family and reduce expenses.

The key is that you must come up with a credible offer that would make your prospects consider. If they think you have the solution they need, they will give you a chance.

Remember, when you write your copy, you’re not offering to buy just a house, or a structure. They need to sell their home the very house that contains so many wonderful memories.

So as much as you’d like to brag about yourself. Place yourself aside for the moment. Instead put yourself in the shoes of your reader. What would you like to hear from a business such as yourself if you needed to sell your house fast.

So before finalizing your real estate direct mail, make sure that you are aware of the backgrounds of your prospects so you can come up with the precise solution to their problems. Your copy must not focus on you. Make them feel that you understand the situation they are going through and that you have the solution they’ve been looking for.

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WordPress Blog - Breakthrough Results Using Web 2.0 To Explode Your Real Estate Marketing Profits

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

WordPress is basically a modern article publishing platform or Content Management system (CMS) that has its focus on usability, web standards, and aesthetics. Many professionals and agents of real estate are trying their level best to deal with the current cut-throat competition in their field. They are doing this by developing a blog or website with WordPress. This is known as the WordPress blog. You can also use the WordPress Blog to enhance your online presence with respect to your real estate business.

Wordpress can be used free of cost and can be applied primarily when you want to use your blog software. This can save you on a substantial amount of money unlike many other expensive tools of social marketing. Thus the Wordpress blog can be called an effective instrument real estate social marketing.

The real estate themes on WordPress are customizable and user-friendly. The WordPress blog is thus an ideal solution for you if you are a web developer or a real estate agent. You can utilize it as a management system for content. However, before you actually purchase it, you must read the page on FAQ very carefully. Every purchaser of any theme receives a lifetime access and privilege to numerous updates for that particular theme absolutely free.

The WordPress blog can be really helpful for busy developers who need effective techniques to achieve results real fast. The themes available on WordPress offer them a solution to manage their real estate content easily. And if the popular Multiple-Use Package can be bought, it can save a lot of endeavor and time too.

WordPress had originally started operating as early as 2003, with a minimal code for enhancing the typography of daily writing with very limited users. In recent times it has preceded its competitors and has become one of the largest tools of self-hosted blogging globally. Nowadays it is widely used on countless websites and by innumerable people on a daily basis. This has made the use of the WordPress blog even more popular.

WordPress is primarily a project having an open source. This signifies that there are multiple people around the world who are working on it and are using the WordPress blog. A majority of these users use it essentially as a commercial platform. Even you can utilize this as a blog platform to boost your real estate social marketing.

The site Wordpress.org allows you to download and install a special script known as WordPress. It is fully customizable and you can use it for anything you want to. There is a free service available at wordpress.com too through which you can begin with the WordPress blog instantly. But for all this, you need a web host who can meet the minimal necessities and devote some time too.

Wordpress is user-friendly and has made creating and posting articles on blogs easy, simple and convenient. This has led to the increasing usage of the wordpress blog. As a real estate professional if you too want to make your online business successful and attract investors and potential customers, do opt for Wordpress blog. You can be assured that it will help to give your real estate business a much needed boost!

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Real Estate Direct Marketing Tip: Are You Committing a ‘Direct Mail Heist’?

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

As a business person and writer of your own or other’s real estate marketing materials, plagiarism is an expensive mistake you cannot afford.

However, it has been a common practice for most direct marketers to use copies of previous mails they have received. Some may consider it plagiarism, but the truth is this is not entirely the case. Let me explain why.

The term being used is “swipe-file” where in you collect all the mails you received from other marketers who may have the same offer as yours or from other business. You have this collection mainly for the purpose of finding marketing terms which you think are effective to use for your marketing plan.

The knowledge you get from these previous copies will be then applied to your own real estate direct marketing copy. However, you are not using the exact sentences or ideas but you make use of your own ideas to market your offers. This way, you are not mainly copying or plagiarizing.

So release your natural creativity, while you use other people’s real estate direct mail as a starting point. If you find the phrase “insider secret” compelling then use it in your own headlines. Also pay attention to call to actions when reading other people’s real estate direct marketing materials. Get inspired to make your own magnetic call to action.

You are merely studying other people’s direct marketing materials and this is totally different from copying their mails. In fact, this method has been used by some of the most successful real estate marketers for years.

A swipe file has been used by all of the most successful copywriters for years. If you aren’t already receiving some type of direct-mail from a variety of firms, contact some. Tell them you’re interested in being placed on their mailing list. You don’t need to tell them why!

One effective method we can borrow from poets and creative writers is to read these real estate marketing materials out loud. By doing this, you get to both hear and feel the power of the words.

Other people’s marketing materials really helps in bringing out your creativity when you study them. These would inspire you to come up with better and unique real estate marketing materials.

Lastly, don’t feel guilty that you are committing a direct mail heist or that only uncreative and mediocre copywriters keep files of other people’s work. In fact, you are dead wrong. The most successful copywriters such as David Ogilvy do not hide the fact that they get inspired by other people’s ideas to help them create their own unique and successful copies. So, instead of getting frustrated about not being able to start writing your real estate direct mail copy; go read and be inspired by how other people use words for direct marketing!

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Real Estate Investor’s Insider Secret #22: Focus, Focus, Focus

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

Usually, a professional real estate investor has the ability to perform numerous tasks in one day. But not everything will fall into proper place in each deal.

It’s an entirely different story when it comes to preparing the materials in real estate direct marketing. Make sure that your offers don’t have too many options. It is important that your potential customers will not get confused with too many ideas in your copy.

The best direct-mail copy focuses on a single idea - at most two. And it tells you over and over again why this one benefit (maybe two) will catapult you to the place in life you’ve always dreamt you’d be.

Even if you have several persuasive benefits to tell your customers, don’t use more than two of them in your real estate postcard marketing copy. Just file these ideas away, for your succeeding real estate direct mails or free reports. As of now, only use your most compelling benefit.

Right now, with your next post card mailing you need to focus your writing on one aspect of your service that sets you far above and beyond the rest of your competition. Many marketers call this your “unique selling point.” It really matters little what you call it. Just be sure that you use just this and don’t clutter your reader’s minds with other possible benefits.

Oh, sure, all of the others you’ve listed are good. But you need to select the best of the best. Then you do your best to ensure that your reader understands this single benefit is the key to their happiness.

You are not expected to come up with this kind of copy right away. The first few versions of your real estate direct mail will usually require several rewrites.

Avoid finalizing your copy right away. The truth is you may think it’s already good enough but if you return to it after several hours or even after a day, you’ll see that there is more to improve on.

You can approach copywriting for real estate postcard marketing as high-resolution writing. Your short copy should be able to give your prospect an amazingly clear understanding and tantalizing view of your offer.

Forget about offering them alternative ideas. Just give them one good offer they can’t refuse. Then sit back and wait for the flood of results.

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23 Your Guide to an Effective Real Estate Marketing: How to Survive the First 30 Seconds

Saturday, July 25th, 2009

Do you know what the 30 most important seconds of your direct-mail campaign are when it comes to your postcard text?

Yup, in just half-a-minute, your prospect will decide whether your real estate direct mail is worth reading or not. So how do you increase your chances of passing this attention test?

Which is it going to be? And how can you ensure that he’ll hang on to it?

Below are some of the suggestions that would help you.

Hence your real estate postcard marketing copy should be remarkably different from all the others, your prospects may have read before. And since people have been flooded with too many corporate looking and formal offers, a personal message will be easier and more refreshing to read.

You want your mailing to be the “purple cow” of direct marketing. That may mean you take the idea of personalization to a whole new level. Instead of typing out a long letter, use a black felt pen, write a quick “personalized” note and then get it reproduced at you local office store on card stock. Guaranteed your postcard will stand head and shoulders above all the others out there. Poof! Instant purple cow!

Include a believable offer in your real estate postcard marketing copy. To make your offer believable, your real estate direct mail should contain testimonials from your customers. It would help if the testimonial is from people who are known to your prospects or live within the same area.

Harness your emotions and positive energy to electrify your real estate postcard marketing copy. You should not write your real estate direct marketing materials if you are not enthusiastic about your offer. If your offer doesn’t interest you, or you don’t think it’s good, then it won’t be effective.

You will be able to grab the attention of your reader if you apply the above suggestions.

Yes, you can get your reader’s attention in this short of time. And once you have it, then you can knock their socks off with your valuable - indeed, one-of-a-kind - service. Go ahead. Go be the purple cow of direct mailing!

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Real Estate Investor Insider’s Secret #18: Choose Your Next Mailing List With Kid Gloves

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

The most common mistake committed by investors for their initial marketing campaign is the failure to recognize the importance of mailing list. If you want your real state investing firm to gain more customers, you must take notice of this.

Veteran real estate marketing professionals know fully well how the quality of the mailing lists, drives the success of their real estate direct marketing campaigns. They pay attention their headlines and offers, but they work doubly hard when it comes to selecting their mailing lists.

Hardly, every successful direct mail marketer knows that the mailing list is the vehicle upon which his success rises or falls. Oh, it’s a ton more fun talking about copy and headlines and offers. And this is indeed the creative side of the business. But every single person who has made a fortune in direct mail harbors this secret that few dare repeat.

In fact, here’s a quick formula for success to keep in the back of your mind. It’s called the 40-40-20 principle of direct marketing. And it means that 40 percent of your efforts should be focused on selecting your mailing list. Another 40 percent of your should be directed to your offer. The remaining 20 percent of your time then can be spent on your copy, your text and the general design of your mailing. It’s a little known secret. But it’s a very effective little known secret.

So begin with choosing the right list. First, by making sure you use a list broker. Today, you can rent a list of names in just about any category imaginable - and many even the most vivid of your dreams can’t imagine.

How do you go about selecting the right mailing list? Experts advise that you hire a mailing list provider. But in working with a broker, you also need to know what questions to ask, to help him process the list further.

Make sure you know you customers well. Direct marketers must know very well their customers so that their list broker can give them a high quality mailing list. If you can provide him with sufficient information about your target market, likewise he’ll provide you with a better list.

Keep learning about your customer. Your success in picking a high quality mailing list is only limited by your knowledge about your customer. No matter how experienced your data broker is, additional information from you about your customer is crucial to helping them build a better list.

Know your intentions. This means know exactly what your mailing want to do. Is this a mailing to generate leads for you to follow up on? Or you are anticipating this campaign to produce some sales? It really does make a difference. And your list broker can help you do this.

So if you want to achieve marketing success, you must really work doubly hard. Follow these steps carefully so you’ll be able to find a good list for your real estate marketing campaign.

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