You wouldn’t be alone if you have been apprehensive of pre-foreclosure listings and short sales. These transactions are very often a long and drawn out process and are a ‘bear’ to close! You also wouldn’t be alone if your apprehension has given way to acceptance of a necessary evil or maybe even grown into embracing the opportunity to help families facing extreme financial distress. Wherever your thought process is, pre-foreclosures and short sales have become a part of mainstream real estate. Currently, 1 out of 10 homeowners is in some stage of the foreclosure process. Foreclosures are at an all time high and are expected to get even higher. 

This being the case, how do you start to grow your pre-foreclosure and short sale business? Below are 10 low cost steps to jump start this new facet of your business: 

1.  Brand your short sale business. 

Branding is developing a logo and a set of consistent marketing materials. It is a look and a feel that the consumer will associate with you when they see your marketing pieces. This concept is not new to many real estate professionals. We have heard about branding for years. Branding your distressed property business is just as important as the branding of your real estate practice as a whole. Quality Images for your marketing materials can be found on 123RF.com or IstockPhoto.com for just a few dollars per image.

2.  Register a domain name. 

Part of branding is the use of a keyword rich domain name to use on your marketing. One of the best keywords to use in real estate marketing is the name of your city or town. Combine your city or town name with words the consumer will use when searching for information about short sales, such as foreclosure or short sale. A couple of examples are: www.stopatlantaforeclosures.com or www.atlantashortsales.com. You can register a domain name at GoDaddy for less than $10 per year. 

3.  Create a short sale website. 

Homeowners facing foreclosure are in desperate need of information. Most don’t realize there are options other than foreclosure. Create a short sale website that provides information in layman terms, explaining their options and how you can help. And don’t forget to include a call to action. A cost effective website option is a Standard Point2Agent website. You get 15 pages with the first three months free and then only $9.95 per month. A good example is ShortSalesCentralNJ.com.  Another option is to create an additional page on your current website dedicated to short sales and foreclosures and point your short sale domain name to it. 

4.  Create a short sale business card. 

Having a separate business card isn’t necessary. Utilize the back of your current business card to promote your short sale business and let the world know you are a short sale expert. Be sure to include your new short sale domain name. 

5.  Place an ad on CraigsList. 

Being free, Craigs List is one of the most cost effective marketing tools available. Place your ad under Real Estate Services for your area. If you haven’t used the ‘Services section of Craigs List, there are additional hoops to jump through before you can post. You are required to provide a phone number associated with your ad. Craigs List then calls and verifies the number. There are any number of ways to create your ad, but one to consider is using Vflyer.com, which creates the code necessary for an HTML ad. Free personal accounts are available. 

6.  Write a press release. 

Submit a press release about how you can help families in distress avoid foreclosure. Highlight any designation you have earned or additional training you have taken. Your local newspaper will print a press release for free and there are numerous online options, such as Free-Press-Release.com, PRlog.org and PressRelease365.com.  

7.  Advertise in local print media. 

Your local newspaper and real estate magazines aren’t as cost effective as online marketing, but it will set you apart from the crowd. Consider both classified ads and display ads. 

8.  Utilize social networks. 

Blog about your short sale business and add it to Face Book. Put it on My Space, Linked In, and Active Rain and be sure to tweet about it on Twitter. 

9.  Send an introduction letter, email or postcard to your database. 

Get the word out with a letter, email or postcard to your database informing them of how you can help families facing foreclosure. They may know you are a real estate professional, but they need to know of your expertise in the area of short sales and avoiding foreclosure. 

10.  Call your sphere of influence. 

Last, but certainly not least, do what real estate professionals dread the most. Pick up the phone and call your sphere of influence. Sharing how you can save families from foreclosure is a great reason to call old friends and clients, as well as an excellent way to generate business. These days, most everyone knows someone struggling with making mortgage payments. 

My team of Marketing Specialists and Transaction Coordinators have earned the Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) designation, making us uniquely qualified to assist you with growing and managing your pre-foreclosure and short sale business. We can create your website and marketing materials, call your sphere of influence, manage your listings and coordinate your closings. Check out our Short Sales In A Box…a turnkey solution to building and managing your distressed property and short sale business.

For more information on how we can help visit myREassistant.com or call 757.271.6047.

The Certified Distressed Property Institute (CDPE) has just reported the most recent distressed property statistics from the Mortgage Bankers Association and I’ll tell you folks, “they ain’t pretty!” 

The statistics below are based on 45,000,000 mortgages for the 3^rd quarter of 2008: 

All Mortgages:
            2.97% are in foreclosure
            6.99% are in default
            9.96% total in default 

Prime Mortgages:
            1.58% in foreclosure
            4.34% in default
          5.92 total in default 

Sub-Prime Mortgages:
          12.55% in foreclosure
             20.02% in default
            32.57% total in default 

FHA Mortgages:
           2.32% in foreclosure
             12.92% in default
            32.57% in default  

VA Mortgages:
          1.46% in foreclosure
            7.28% n default
         8.74 total in default 

As you can see, 10% of all mortgages were in default. Not just subprime mortgages but all mortgages! A number that has doubled since January 2007. These numbers are not only overwhelming, but also heart breaking knowing they represent 4.5 million families in crisis. 

The real estate industry has the ability to help these families avoid foreclosure and regain stability in their lives. Most families in distress don’t know they have options and think foreclosure in inevitable once they get behind on mortgage payments. CDPE training provides you with the tools you need to assist families in distress. As real estate virtual assistant who is CDPE certified, I can assist you with implementing the tools CDPE provides, growing your distressed property business, marketing distressed property listings and progressing to a successful closing. 

Give me a call. I’d like to work with you helping families in need.

Last night about 9PM, I was working on marketing a listing (Listing Coordination) for one of my clients. Why so late? I have a Team of four real estate Virtual Assistants that work with me. One of them is on vacation this week…something well deserved! And the husband of another is in the hospital. Understandably, she is not focused on her virtual assistant work this week either.

If these women were working as in-house assistants or maybe
even working on other virtual assistant Teams, the real estate agent, whose work needed to be completed, would be working on the marketing his listing at
9PM in the evening. NOT so, is this case!!

Because this real estate agent hired myREassistant as his real estate Virtual Assistant, the work was getting done by other people on our Team. The agent didn’t have to worry about it. He knew it would be taken care of.

Do I advertise I work at 9PM in the evening…heck NO. My advertised hours are 9-5 EST, Monday through Friday. But, when there is work to be done that is time sensitive, it gets done one way or the other.

Read the rest of this entry »

Managing the stress of real estate.

Author, speaker and entrepreneur, Joe Cooke, wrote an article for Rismedia concerning managing stress that I want to share with you.  We have all probably heard these ideas before, but tend to forget when we really need them. Joe breaks his stress relievers into 3 categories… basic, advanced and power.

Basic
1. Take a hike.
Get outside and take a walk, alone and without your cell phone or other communication gadgets.

2. Control your input.
When stress hits you don’t want to be hyped up with sugar, caffeine and carbs.  Keep healthy snacks on hand.

Advanced
1. Redecorate.
A messy unorganized space can be overwhelming and unsettling. Keep things in their place.  Add relaxing elements such as plants, calming pictures or your favorite lamp.

2. Stay in the moment.
We spend most our our time worrying about the future and regretting the past.  Most of what we worry about in the furture never happens and we can’t change the past. Stay focused on the present and deal with what is in front of you.

3. Refill the well.
Real estate is a stressful business. Take some time for yourself everyday, even if only 10-15 minutes to read, exercise, meditate or do nothing!

Power
1. Remember to laugh.
Stuff happens to all of us. Maintain your sense of humor and keep the situation in perspective.

2. Mind your attitude.
Control your thoughts. If something goes wrong allow yourself a reasonable time to fret over it and then let it go.

3. Seek the gift.
The universe will never give you more than your can handle. Do the right thing, don’t complain and good will eventually come.

One stress reliever Joe Cook didn’t mentioned is hiring a real estate Virtual Assistant.  Visit my website to learn how.