REI Marketing Tips

Wednesday I had the pleasure of having lunch with California’s top short sale attorney.

He was kind enough to let me pick his brain on certain nuances that come up in California.  More importantly though, he gave me some great insight on what is going on around the country, not just in California.

I took a few pages of written notes, and even more mental notes, but here are a couple of big take-aways that I wanted to share with you:

1.  Deals you find by yourself are best, but better if you take care of agent out of the goodness of your heart.
We discussed at length doing deals where the property is already listed, and we both agree that trying to convince many agents that our “creative” way of doing short sales can often be a frustrating experience, and a waste of time.  That’s not to say that it can’t be done, but we both agreed that if you have good marketing, and can get to the seller directly, you’re in a much better position.  One idea he shared with me was to allow a realtor (one that you have a good relationship with, or one that you’ve been trying to court into getting all of his listings and buying them) is to let them represent you on the transaction.  The banks are used to paying a commission anyway, so why not throw someone a “bone” and put some money in there pocket.  This idea was taken a step further by even suggesting to the homeowner that they might want representation, and providing them with an agent (referred by you of course) to put a smile on the face of a couple of agents…which could lead to a lot more deals for you!

2.  Keep your paperwork consistent
We had a standard practice in our business of using one contract for deals where the property was NOT listed, and another one for listed properties to keep the agents happy (by seeing a familiar contract).  He pointed out to me that I’m making things more confusing for our acquisition specialists by making them have and complete 2 different sets of contracts.  “Standardize” he said, and make the contracts work for all transactions, realtors involved or not.  Made sense, and we made that change in our business today.  (NOTE: some of you might be thinking “you sure are a bonehead Justin” and while that might be true, I’m far from perfect, and learn new things in this business every day.  I have no problem admitting if I’ve made a mistake or not doing something the best/smartest way possible).

3.  Pay your “A” listing realtor well
If you’re going after listed properties, pay the “A” realtor well.  They’re getting paid on the discounted price, so why not pay them 4% instead of the “standard” 3%.  This will show the “A” listing agent that you’re serious about putting money in their pocket, and make them more motivated to work with you in the future.  If you pay 4% realtors will be excited about working with you, and the “word” will get out that you’re a serious investor who takes care of agents

Those 3 ideas were just the TIP OF THE ICEBERG…

We discussed a TON of other things, and we finished lunch with a LOT more to discuss.  Fortunately for you, I’ve arranged for a special training with this attorney.  It’s not until March 31st, but go ahead and block out that time in your calendar NOW.  We’ll be covering lots of great information, and of course I’ll remind you closer to the date.  For now, put Wednesday, March 31st at 6pm PST/9pm EST in your calendar.

Ever heard of “Ning”. It’s social networking site.

The difference however? It can be VERY niche specific.

And that’s what I’ve done with it (or at least hope to do with it).

You see, I get asked ALL of the time, from investors, “Justin, where can I find an agent who is investor friendly? One who “gets” short sales, and back-to-back closings?”

Well, since we have a pretty decent sized community here at REIMarketingTips I’m guessing that I have a bunch of people who are both realtors AND investors, and who “get” the way we do short sales. I set up a Ning so that whether you’re an investor, or an agent, you can set up a profile, and hopefully find someone in your geographic area to work with.

I also figured that the Ning could be PARTICULARLY effective for those of you who get out of state deals, and need a local realtor to help you get a property re-listed and sold.

Anyway, if you’re an investor looking for more realtors to help you with your deals, or you’re an investor-friendly realtor looking to get more listings, head on over and create a profile, and may we all network and profit together.

If you’re a realtor, head over, create a profile (takes 3-4 minutes) and then let people know what areas you can pull comps for and set up listings for.

If you’re an investor, post what areas you’re investing in, and where you’re looking for realtors to help you with your listings.

Just a quick reminder that I’m hosting a FREE training teleseminar tonight with a national Title, Closing & Escrow Expert to discuss the latest updates with what’s going on with short sale flips.  All of the details can be found right here, including dial-in and webcast information:

To listen live by phone you can dial 813-262-0467 and use conference ID 686172 or you can listen for free, online at http://www.attendthisevent.com/Classic/?eventid=10876476

This is a free training call, and NOTHING will be sold.  On this teleseminar tonight here’s just a few of the things that we’ll be covering:

1.    Are Option Contracts Dead?
-What’s the best paperwork for me?
(Option Contract Vs. Purchase Agreement)
-How to use Addendums that work (to get your files to be
seen as “legitimate” in the eyes of your lender
-Disclosure! (Why not having the proper disclosures in
place could land you in a very bad place…)

2.     Are Back-to-Back Closings A Thing of the Past?
-How to structure them for success (and what lenders won’t
even consider them)
-Secrets of Transactional funding requirements (how to
ensure that the funds show up, your deal closes, and you
get paid)
-The single biggest secret to becoming the “Owner of Record”
(Hint: if you mess this up, you won’t be able to sell the
property to your end buyer)
-The surprising truth about what other options are
developing (get the information to remain on the cutting
edge of doing short sale flips)

3.     30-Day Closing Restrictions Are Being Enforced!
-WARNING: We are starting to see a Return of Funds
-The shocking truth about what happens if you are subject
to a “Return of Funds”, and what it means to your deal)

4.     Understanding and Correctly Using Business Entities.
-The secrets to closing as an LLC that the other big-time
investors don’t want you to know
-The simple trick to keeping your entity valid and up to date
-The one thing you must never do when closing a deal
(hint: we’ll be explaining why you can’t use your DBA)

5.     FHA Waived the 90-Day Rule!
-How to understand what it means in short sale flips
-What we learned when we took a closer look at the waiver
(And What are the new restrictions, if any)
-The single biggest impact on the “C” Lenders
-The surprising truth about Predatory Practices (and whether
or not you should be concerned)
-How does the FHA define ‘Flipping’ (and whether or not they
consider it illegal)
-How to “get around” the 20% guideline in the waiver (it’s not
as difficult as you think)
-Understanding “The seller holds title to the property” (and
knowing how to get around this clause for your back-to-back
closings)

Excited?

You should be.  Remember, this training is ALL-CONTENT.
NOTHING IS FOR SALE (however you can feel free to send in
thank you emails when we’re done)

Remember, get the call details and ask your questions here:

http://www.attendthisevent.com/Classic/?eventid=10876476

Remember you can ask questions as well, in advanc, and during the call.

Great news for all short sale investors: FHA just announced that they are NO LONGER requiring 90 day seasoning for people to purchase properties.

So what does this mean for you?  Let’s break it down into the most simple terms.

Many people who were using the technique of using short sales for “back-to-back” closings had difficulty in finding “end buyers” who could be approved for financing, because FHA wouldn’t allow them to buy these homes.

In other words, investors were finding it increasinly difficult to find an “end buyer” for their “back-to-back” closings because that end buyer was NOT allowed to use FHA financing (per FHA guidelines).

Well come February 1st 2010 the FHA has decided to WAIVE that for a 1 year period.

You can read the entire waiver directly on HUD’s website right here.

Here are some hilights:

• 90 day seasoning rule waived for 1 year beginning February 1st 2010
• No pattern of previous flipping activity exists for the subject property (ie no multiple flips within the past 12 months)
• The property was marketed “openly and fairly” by MLS, auction, FSBO, etc
• If the increase in price is over 20% of the seller’s acquisition cost, a 2nd appraisal may be required
• All transactions must be arms-length, with no identity of interest between the buyer and seller or other parties participating in the sales transaction

More directly from the HUD website:

The policy change will permit buyers to use FHA-insured financing to purchase HUD-owned properties, bank-owned properties, or properties resold through private sales. This will allow homes to resell as quickly as possible, helping to stabilize real estate prices and to revitalize neighborhoods and communities.

Note the last sentence in the paragraph above: “This will allow homes to resell as quickly as possible, helping to stabilize real estate prices and to revitalize neighborhoods and communities.”

That tells me that HUD and other lending institutions are finally starting the see the value that short sale and preforeclosure investors are bringing when it comes to rebuilding America’s housing market.

This is GREAT news for you, because now your end buyers are allowed to use FHA financing!

To give you a better understanding of this, and the ever changing landscape of short sale investing and flipping, please join me for a free, content-packed, special training teleseminar this Wednesday evening, January 20th at 6pm PST/9pm EST.

On this call I will be join by one of the nation’s leading title company experts, who is currently closing deals in all 50 states!  My special guest and I are nto only going to be discussing this groundbreaking announcement from the FHA, but also discussing short sale flips, closings, HUD1’s, title companies and insurance, back-to-back closings, working with realtors, plus MUCH much more.

Please note that this content only teleseminar will be ALL audio.  It will NOT be a webinar.  Also please note that there is no registration.  You’ll be able to either dial-in OR listen via the Internet.  Also, you can ask questions about ANY do to with short sale investing.  There is a question box on the teleseminar page.

I am looking forward to having one of America’s leading short sale closing and title experts on the line with me this Wednesday evening, January 20th at 6pm PST/7pm MST/8pm CST/9pm EST.  Get your questions ready, and I’ll “see” you on the call!

I sincerely hope that everyone who reads my blog and my emails has a wonderful holiday season.

No matter what holiday you celebrate, whether it’s Christmas, Kwanza, Hannukah or anything else, I truly hope that you and your friends and family have a wonderful holiday.

What has become annual holiday tradition is a present from me to you. This year, it’s a training video and a PDF that I recently did titled “5 Ways To Get A Deal Without Spending A Penny”.

Many times I’m asked how someone can get started investing if they have no marketing budget. Well this PDF and video should get you on your way.

This training is exactly the type of stuff that comes to you in print and on a DVD in my Foreclosure Master’s Coaching club. It’s only $49.95 a month, but you can get a free trial in it by visiting this page, or clicking on the banner at the top of this page.

That’s all for now. Dreama, Stella, Sebastian and I are making the move, and we’ll be leaving Vancouver on December 31st and arriving in San Diego January 5th. To keep us with us, our move, and life and business in general, you can follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, and you can also follow Dreama on Twitter and friend her on Facebook.

Here’s the links to the PDF and video again.

Happy Holidays!

I came across these 2 articles in the past couple of days while surfing the web. If you’re a real estate investor, I would consider both of them mandatory reading.

The first article is about Brent T. White, a University of Arizona law school professor, who says that it’s in the homeowners’ best financial interest to stiff their lenders and that it’s not immoral to do so.

When I first read it I was a bit shocked. However, here’s a tip for you:

I would print out this article and take it on short sale appointments with me. However, instead of telling the people to walk away, I would tell them that a short sale would be far less damaging to their credit.

The second article is from Bloomberg, and it talks about how we’re going to see not just a huge increase in foreclosures, but also in luxury home foreclosures. This excites me, as their are much larger spreads and profit potential when doing deals with luxury homes.

I would take 10 minutes, and read each article. Hopefully it gives you some good insight, and also the opportunity to get motivated and excited about your real estate investing business in 2010.

Happy Holidays!

A staggering report that I just read in today's Wall Street Journal: The proportion of U.S. homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than the properties are worth has swelled to about 23% Here are some other great stats from the same article:

• Economists from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. said Monday they didn't expect U.S. home prices to hit bottom until early 2011, citing the prospect of oversupply
• Home prices have fallen so far that 5.3 million U.S. households are tied to mortgages that are at least 20% higher than their home's value
• Most U.S. homeowners still have some equity, and nearly 24 million owner-occupied homes don't have any mortgage
• About 588,000 borrowers defaulted on mortgages last year even though they could afford to pay — more than double the number in 2007
• More than 40% of borrowers who took out a mortgage in 2006 — when home prices peaked — are under water

So what does this mean for you, as a real estate investor? Well as I have been saying for months now, it's still not too late to get into the preforeclosure business.  There's a lot of money to be made buying and selling short sales, doing loan modifications and debt settlement.  If you're unsure where to start the best place is my free CD, which you can grab as long as you're willing to pony up the $7.95 for shipping and handling. Don't forget that it comes with a free strategy session, where I'll personally build a strategy for you and help you make big profits during the foreclosure crisis.  There has never been a better time to invest in foreclosures.  What are you doing to profit in this market?

For those who didn’t see the ground breaking webinar that we hosted last night, you’re in luck. We’ve arranged a replay for you.

Just visit http://www.reimarketingtips.com/fundingreplay/ and you’ll see exactly how you can:

* Flip Short Sales To FHA Buyers Without Worrying About 90-Day Seasoning
* No Longer Worry About Bank Of America’s 30-Day seasoning
* Legally and Ethically Flip any Short Sale or REO Property
* Go to a Real Estate Investing & Foreclosure Boot Camp for FREE

That last point is important. I can only leave the webinar replay up until Sunday night at midnight. Nathan and Chris are letting every who takes them up on their amazing come to a FREE bootcamp in Las Vegas. but they need to finalize their numbers ASAP, so the offer for the bootcamp comes down at midnight on Sunday. Hurry up and check it out now by clicking here.

I recently met Nathan Jurewicz, aka “The Short Sale Kid” at an event in Las Vegas, for the first time ever.
Before I met him, I though that he was an arrogant punk who made a lot of silly videos.

However, after meeting him in person, I learned a valuable lesson about “not judging a book by its cover”.

Nathan, his business partner Chris McLaughlin and I will be hosting a very special webinar this Wednesday evening, October 28th, at 6pm PST/7pm MST/8pm CST/9pm EST. Watch the short video below to learn more:

To register for this revolutionary webinar, just click here. We’ll be revealing, among many things:

- How to do short sale and REO flips with ease, without using any of your own cash or credit
- How to fund deals when your “C” buyer wants to get an FHA loan (if you don’t understand this, it’s even MORE reason for you to get on this free training webinar with us)
- How to close deals when Bank of America (Countrywide) tells you that you have to hold the property for 30 days

Plus much, much more

Please join us for the webinar on Wednesday evening. Just make sure that you register here first.

Watch the movie below, and then join us on an exclusive training webinar (details below)

Are you ready to finally be able to fund every single one of your short sale deals?
Now it doesn’t matter if:

- Your end buyer has an FHA loan (Now it can be funded)
- If Bank of America or Countrywide tell you “You can’t sell it for 30 days” (Now it can be funded)
- The REO or short sale that you’re trying to flip has seasoning requirements (Now it can be funded)

If you’re asking yourself “But Justin, how can this be?”, then you simply MUST join me for a special training webinar this Wednesday evening, at:

6pm PST
7pm MST
8pm CST
9pm EST

You can register for this FREE training event by clicking here.
We’re going to reveal EXACTLY how you can start buying and flipping short sales and REOs without using any of your own cash or credit, and we’ll show you how to get around all of the banks strict financing restrictions so you can get CASHED OUT of all of the great short sale and REO deals that are out there.

I’ll “see” you on the webinar Wednesday night (6pm PST/9pm EST) but make sure you register first by clicking here.