REO / Foreclosure Online Resources
Six months ago, I wondered why there were very few bloggers focusing on the REO/foreclosure markets. Last quarter, even in markets like Minneapolis not usually associated with the CA/AZ/FL foreclosure debacle, foreclosures and short sales accounted for 27% of home sales. Since the beginning of the year, a lot of resources have popped up - International Listings compiled a comprehensive foreclosure investors' online resource guide of 100 sites.
Yes, I find it amazing that nobody has focussed on these areas. In fact, I contacted an SEO firm to start working on these keywords for my website about one year ago. They wouldn't take on the work because they told me it was a fad or a phase in the market that we are going through. I couldn't believe it! An SEO firm telling me what the market was going to do.
Well, it certainly doesn't look like a fad at this stage. Looks like we're still going to see foreclosures and short sales as a mainstay of our business for the next few years to come.
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Hi Pat,
I would guess that the real estate blogsphere is populated mostly by early adopter tech-geek real estate agents, and agents who use blogs mostly as a marketing vehicle and on the mortgage side, with loan originator bloggers who work the retail side of the industry. Focusing on "investor" buyers if you're an LO is a specialty area. Blogs have probably been off the radar for many of the folks we're looking for.
I wrote an article on short sales over at RCG over a year ago and we STILL get hits on that post.
They don't teach short sales, foreclosures, and REOs in real estate school and it certainly isn't on the curriculum for retail loan originators.
Practical knowledge is needed in order to blog about the subject. Right now I see lots of individual, experienced agents writing on their own individual blogs or commenting and sharing their knowledge. I see some investors blogging about issues such as new anti-predatory-investor/foreclosure-rescue-scam new state laws.
Lastly, there has been much written by real estate agents who have expressed their extreme frustration in working with these types of transactions. Maybe a certain percentage of agents don't want to work the foreclosure market.
A small percentage of agents that I meet are thinking ahead and trying hard to amass the knowledge needed to work with REOs.
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You may want to check out frontline seminars at www.frontlineseminars.com. I attended their school last year and it has been very valuable in build my short sale and REO business. Jim Aldrich www.teamaldrich.com
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Thanks Jillian, great insight into the difficulties in REO transaction and supports the premise that this arcane field still has few practitioners. The blogs and other resources only open up the field a little more.
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I'm a Realtor here in So. Cal. Why don't I work REOs? Two reasons: 1)There actually aren't that many foreclosures in the areas that I work and 2)there are already huge local "teams" that never dismantled from the past bust that have the relationships with banks, etc. I estimate they have at least 70% of the local REO business.
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I've heard there is a lock on foreclosure work based on lender relationships you refer to. If there were a lot of foreclosure business in your area, would you be able to work with buyers/investors in guiding them through the process? I see a need there, considering almost half of sales are REO/foreclosure/short sale in some ripe areas...
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If banks are selecting Realtors to list REOs based on how much business the Realtors refer to the RETAIL side of the bank, this is a violation of RESPA.
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The banks are still signing on a few new REO agents. I'm picking up more and more listings as time goes by and really enjoy working with REO's.
The biggest pain, believe it or not is working with buyers or agents that have absolutely no clue about the REO market. The banks are desperate to get the homes off their books and in most cases they discount the price to be lower than most other homes in the neighborhood. However, the banks won't take a 50% offer. Try and come in as close as possible to the listing price and everyone will be much happier and you'll find the transaction will go through much, much smoother with less headaches. You may even get an executed contract the same day you submit your offer and close in less time than a standard residential transaction.
Also, you have to understand that when you make offers on a bank owned home, you're dealing with employees - not homeowners. Employees are following their office protocol and don't feel the need to sell at a discounted rate. In fact, you can imagine their peformance will be measured by how close to the listing price they can get on each home.
Recently I added a page to my website: http://www.orlando-real-estate.biz/Orlando_REO_Properties/page_2023589.html to help buyers with questions about purchasing REO properties.
It's an easy process believe it or not, and if you're not already working with REO's, then you should be. There going to be around for the next couple of years and offer some of the best deals on the market for your clients.
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Interesting that it's not well covered in the blogosphere. This is a stellar list though.
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Another two great foreclosure resources are:
Foreclosure Tutorial:
http://www.realtystore.com/foreclosure-learning-center.do
and Foreclosure News Blog
http://www.realtystore.com/blog/
The site offers basic fundamentals on foreclosure information and news.
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Fantastic list. There's a ton of training in the investor arena on foreclosures / short sales, but the agent arena seems nearly devoid of good, solid education on the topic.
I've got a close friend who teaches one of the best classes on short sales for investors. I may approach him about doing something similar (online) just for agents.
Thanks again!
...jp
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