Take a look at the CDPE Designation for agents. The course is now taught through distance learning and only takes 6 weeks to earn the designation. Some of the top agents in the county have earned this designation. It is the equivalent of 2 full days instruction and includes a 170 page manual, forms, checklists, flowcharts and a resource disk. Let us know if you have any questions.

Sat Jun 21 2008, 02:18

If you are ever in Chicago

Introduction to Short Sales
Course Description

Short Sales are the direct result of real estate foreclosure and the current real estate industry is now overwhelmed with the question; “What is a Short Sale and how do I service clients who have no equity in their homes or money to bring to a closing?” This course is for real estate agents, brokers and other industry professionals who want to know how to prepare a short sale package and the timeline needed to get everything accomplished.

Save a customer from foreclosure & develop a skill set for a niche market!

Course Content
You will learn:

Factors that Lead to a Short Sale
Mortgage Theory and Ownership
What is a Foreclosure and it’s Timeline
Is a Short Sale Right for the Client
Why Lenders Accept Short Sale
The Hardship Test of a Short Sale
What’s in a Short Sale Package
The Steps in a Short Sale
Tax Consequences
Requirements
This course is open to everyone. There are no prerequisites for this course.


This one day course meets from 9am - 1pm
Tuition: C.A.R. Members: $79 Non-Members $99

Classroom Schedule
Date
June 26, 2008
July 8, 2008
July 24, 2008
August 7, 2008
August 19, 2008
September 8, 2008
September 9, 2008
September 24, 2008
October 8, 2008
October 23, 2008
November 6, 2008
November 24, 2008
December 17, 2008

Fri Jun 20 2008, 18:34

Ginger,
Until you know what you are doing you can do yourself and your client a disservice trying to do a short sale.
Not everyone qualifies for a short sale. 1st the home must be listed, they must be behind on payments, they must have a good reason for being behind on payments, - lost job, have cancer, such as this, NOAT my son is going to college, I want a new car , we spent too much on new furniture. you must negotiate with the finance company before advertising in private (agent) the home as a short sale, you may in agent remarks say possible short sale, but do not guarantee a short sale until you hear it from the lender.
Your sellers need to write (they write ,just like in sellers disclosure it must be them) a hardship letter for you to have when you address the lender about a short sale.
Once you are assigned a person to speak to do not break contact or it will be assigned to another person, speak to the person every 4 to 5 days even if it is only a message saying just checking.

As stated below Short Sales and different, on is just in better shape usually. I find the equity pretty much the same here. The foreclosures are not as cheap anymore, guess the banks have too many.
Why not take on one at a time
Good Luck

Marg

Thu Jun 12 2008, 11:12

Just dive and see what happens. Nothing is better than on the court experience. You can learn as you go.

Thu Jun 12 2008, 10:46

Ginger,

Make sure you team up with professional short sale, pre foreclosure attorneys and professional short sale negotiators, that specialize in the field, to handle your transactions professionally and optimize them for success. This will make your job so much easier, and you will become an instant Pro.

A few words of advice:

- do not try to negotiate on your own. Your job as a listing agent is marketing and coordinating the transaction.

- Try to get as many offers on your short sale listing as you possibly can, and forward them to your short sales professionals, they will tell you how to optimize them before submitting them to the lender.

- do not take any low ball offers from investors that look for a huge profit (i.e. 50% below estimated market value) - you will only tie up the transaction for months, pi** off the lender, that will mostly likely lead to rejection of the offer and consequently the seller being foreclosed upon, as you may not have enough time left to find other buyers. If you believe the property can be sold at 10-20% below the estimated market value, there is no need to entertain offers that are 30%+ below market (unless the sheriff sale (auction) is coming up next month, then send whatever offers you have in hand).

- DO NOT change the status to CTG once you get an offer on your short sale listing. Trust me. That's the end of multiple offers. Who's going to bother showing your CTG listing if there are 150 other homes in the area that meet buyer's criteria and are not under contract.

--------------------------------------

Related Terms & Definitions:

Short Sale.
Definition: Short Sale is a Real Estate Sales transaction where the proceeds of the sale fall short of the property owner's outstanding real estate debt obligations (mortgage loans, real estate taxes, etc..).
A lender may agree to adjust the amount owed, and accept less than a full payment, forgiving the balance, if the seller is in a financial hardship or must relocate.

Foreclosure.
Definition: Repossession of a real property. A legal process by which the lender forces a sale of a mortgaged property because the borrower has not met the terms of the mortgage.

REO.
Definition: Real Estate Owned. Usually refers to Bank owned property aquired through foreclosure. If a property does not sell at the sheriff sale/ auction, it goes back to the lender and becomes an REO.

BPO.
Definition: Broker Price Opinion.

Thu Jun 12 2008, 10:41

What is Pre foreclosure????

Thu Jun 12 2008, 07:53

Make sure you understand that the seller needs legal and tax advice and sometimes that advice means you won't get paid. One key with potential short sales is learning to ID which ones not to take.

Tue May 27 2008, 21:06

My personal opinion is that the only sellers market in the US is the foreclosure market. I understand that people want a deal but they are not easy to find in the foreclosure market.

Its easier to focus on people looking for deals by advertising "i cen help you get 20% off" and then dropping offers on the oldest properties on the market.

Tue Dec 18 2007, 20:23

I am a REO real estate broker. I also work with seller who are in the pre-foreclosure and short sale situation. These sales can be long, and not as profitable. The reason is that in some cases the mortgage company can ask you to lessen your commission to sell the property. I have some detail information to share if you are interested email me at snorbrown@yahoo.com.

Serena

Sun Dec 16 2007, 12:43

Ginger - sorry to answer a question with a question however if there was a designation or accredidation for real estate agents specifically for distressed properties would you be intersted?

Sun Dec 16 2007, 04:16

You may want to watch for some of the real estate investor networks in the area. Foreclosures are a hot topic so they routinely have guest speakers like roddy giving a free or cheap overview.

Tue Dec 11 2007, 15:11

I believe the best bet will be to find someone in your community who is doing those deals successfully and ask them to help you. You may be surprised to learn that many of them will be happy to spend time teaching you the ins and outs of these situations, usually for no more than the cost of lunch and your gratitude.

There are books available, but most investment books will outline ONE strategy that worked for the author, so tread lightly. Real-life experience will be the best teacher. Happy hunting!

Tue Jul 17 2007, 12:46

Bruce, Thank you for the resource! It's great to have a recommended seminar. There are too many that are just out there to separate a potential investor or agent from their money. I'll definately be looking into that!

Tue Jul 17 2007, 08:40

Don't spend a lot of money on the course. If you are in Texas the best authority is George Roddy. Look for George Roddy seminars on the web and take one of their classes. They're excellent value and very inexpensive as far as real estate classes go. I would caution you against taking classes that cost $1000s. I'd also caution you that it is not an easy business. You can make money and you can make great money, but like most opportunities there's typically no free lunch. That may change some if the regulators ever decide to make the banks dump their REOs like they did in the 80s, but so far that hasn't happened. I do have a list of Texas foreclosure resources on my website.

Tue Jul 17 2007, 08:12

Ginger,
There are many courses in how to do this, and it seems to be a very indepth topic. The few short sales I've handled in the past were extraordinarily difficult and time consuming. Perhaps you and I could look into courses on this and take one together since we are n the same office.

Mon Jul 16 2007, 06:01