REI Marketing Tips

Last night I held the first ever “Short Sale Approval System” training teleseminar. Hundreds of people joined us as we reviewed how you can get tons of short sales approved, in writing, in 30 days, guaranteed!

I am posting the replay to the audio below, but before I do that, i want to make some important clarifications about last night’s call:

1. I kept telling everyone that the correct email address to send your deals to for evaluation was leads AT ShortSaleApprovalSystem.com. That was INCORRECT! The CORRECT email address is deals AT ShortSaleApprovalSystem.com. As you can see, I was suffering from a mild form of dyslexia last night…LOL.

I have corrected the email address so that moving forward, BOTH email addresses work. However, if you sent in a deal last night within the first two hours, please RESEND the email.

2. Many people on the call were asking about “what about if there’s 2+ mortgages on the property. In that instance, as long as it’s a “mix and match” of the lenders (listed below) we can handle them. In the case where only the 1st (but not junior) lien is with one of the lenders listed below, we can still work it, but you’ll have to work on the 2nd mortgage yourself. IMHO, the best thing to do is to stick with files that only have 1 lender, or if 2 lenders, it’s a combination of those below.

3. In the training I reference “the snake”. We’re taking part in a pilot program for this lender on Monday (we’re picking up 2 new deals tomorrow). I’ll let you know as soon as this is ready for public consumption, hopefully very soon.

Okay, here is the audio so you can listen (again). Also, below the audio, I’m going to a “matrix” showing you each lender, and their requirements. You need to listen to the call in detail to understand the matrix below. Please don’t send in any deals without first listening to the call below.

I know that I’ve been promising you all week that I’d have a new video sharing the biggest “Takeaways” from my marketing seminar this past weekend.

Well not only did I attend a marketing seminar, by my business colleague Miguel attending Ron Ballard’s short sale investing seminar this past weekend as well. For those of you who don’t know Ron, he’s California’s #1 short sale attorney.

We decided to divide and conquer, so I did the 3 day marketing seminar in San Diego, and Miguel drove up to Ron’s all day event this past Saturday in Newport Beach.

We recorded a very brief video where we each share our 2 biggest “Takeaways” from the weekend, and correlate them directly to real estate investing:

Also, I have sent you a couple of emails about posting properties to Sellpoint, the easiest way to distribute your property listings to boatloads of sites across the internet, all with a push of a button. You simply MUST sign up a for a free account here. Also, tell 3 friends and well….you’ll just have to visit the page to find out what cool FREE goodies you get.

Oh yes, and one other thing: add me as a friend on Facebook if you’re on it!

Last month I wrote a blog post about how Chase Home Finance had opened 51 “Home Ownership” centers across the country. These centers were to provide free foreclosure and loan modification counseling for anyone who was behind on a Chase mortgage.

I mentioned this and asked people to find creative ways on how they could use this information to grow their business. I actually went out to one of the Chase Home Ownership centers here in San Diego, but discovered that they don’t refer any business out. Even if the homeowner is denied a loan modification!

But I knew that these were high traffic areas with highly targeted prospects: people behind on their mortgages. I recorded a quick video to show you how we ended up targeting these homeowners:

After you watch the video below, please leave a comment. I installed a new plug-in on my blog, and it automatically gives anyone who lives a comment on my blog high ranking, one-way back link to their site just for a leaving a comment.

Now why would you want to do that, you ask? Well, one of the best ways to get your sites to rank higher in the search engines is to get lots of ONE WAY links coming to your site. That’s because Google sees each link as a “vote” in terms of relevance and popularity for your site.

Normally this is very time consuming, but I found a new Wordpress plugin called “Top Commentators”.

The Top Commentators plugin actually lists the top 10 commentators on EVERY PAGE of the bloggers blog WITH a one-way link back to the commentators website! Do you see how big this can be? If you are ranked as one of the top 10 commentators on a blog with 50 pages you’ll instantly get 50 one-way links pointing back to YOUR website! How cool is that? What if the blog had 100,000 webpages?

So here’s how this works…

You need to find blogs that are using the Top Commentator plugin (do a Google search) and you need to leave RELEVANT, USEFUL comments on those blogs.

So where do you start??? Here’s where you can help me, help you…

If you look on the right side bar you’ll see that I have the Top Commentators plugin installed. And because I have only a few comments at this time, YOU can easily become a Top Commentator listed on this blog with a one-way link back to your site! And yes, my blog will be is continually growing, which means more and more links and free traffic back to your website over time.

So there you have it…a free way to get quality traffic. All you need to do is post a USEFUL comment here on the blog. I figured that this post was the perfect start, because there’s a great video on here.

So happy investing, let me know how you enjoyed the video, and leave a comment and start getting MORE traffic back you to YOUR website!

A few people who are still on the fence might be interested to see EXACTLY what’s inside the Commercial Foreclosure Goldrush home study course & system. I finally got my copy, and I want to show you exactly what’s inside:

Don’t forget that if your order at www.REIMarketingTips.com/cfbonus you’ll qualify for my bonus package. You’ll get the following incredible bonuses:

BONUS #1- Waived Set-up Fee for your very own SaveMeFromForeclosure.com county (Value: $2,497)

Instantly have a page 1 Google ranked website, instant credibility, a perfect track record with the Better Business Bureau and SO MUCH MORE with this bonus.  What you get is too lengthy to list here, so check out http://www.TheForeclosureMarketingMachine.com.

BONUS #2- New 4 week coaching program showing you how to get FREE labor for your business (Value: Priceless)

Dreama and I have been working on a super secret project that shows you exactly how you can get FREE labor, from college educated people, without having to spend a penny on payroll.  This is part of a super-secret new project we’re working on, but you’ll get instant, immediate access to a 4 week coaching program revealing EXACTLY what we’re doing with this.  That’s all I can say about this, but if you realize that you need more resources to help your business grow, but you’re sick of Virtual Assistants, this is one bonus you simply must claim.

BONUS #3- Access Justin & Dreama’s Private Money For Your Commercial Deals (Value: Priceless)

If you have been following Dreama & I for a while you know that we recently sold our million dollar home in Vancouver to move to San Diego (because it’s cheaper here…seriously).  We have set aside some of our funds for great commercial deals.  In fact, we found one in February that pays us a net cash flow of $4,432.19 per month.  But we’re looking for more.  Purchase Karen & DC’s elite level program through our link, and be assured that we’ll personally review any deal that you’re working on and be able to help be private lenders on good deals that you find.  These are our own personal private funds, not someone else’s. Sure no money down deals are possible, but when you have cash to bring to the table, the number (and quality) of deals available to you really opens up.  (Please note that Dreama and I reserve the right to review and inspect all deals before we agree to lend on them).

BONUS #4- Be entered into the following prize drawings (Value: $1,000+)

Buy through our special link and you’ll instantly be entered into a draw for the following items:

Raffle Item #1- Free roundtrip airfare to Karen & DC’s 4 day bootcamp (so you don’t have to pay to attend, you can just show up)

Raffle Item #2- New flip cam

Raffle Item #3- New Ipod Nano

Please note that to qualify for these bonuses, you MUST purchase the EILTE level of Karen & DC’s system.  To get these bonuses now, simply head over to www.REIMarketingTips.com/cfbonus

For everyone who is going to make an investment in Karen Hanover & DC Fawcett’s incredible Commercial Foreclosure Goldrush system, I want to be sure that when you purchase through my link, you are eligible for the following bonuses. Please note that to qualify for these bonuses, you MUST purchase the ELITE level of Karen & DC’s system.  I recorded a quick video for you to watch to see all of the bonuses and how they work perfectly with DC & Karen’s system:

BONUS #1- Waived Set-up Fee for your very own SaveMeFromForeclosure.com county (Value: $2,497)

Instantly have a page 1 Google ranked website, instant credibility, a perfect track record with the Better Business Bureau and SO MUCH MORE with this bonus.  What you get is too lengthy to list here, so check out this link.

BONUS #2- New 4 week coaching program showing you how to get FREE labor for your business (Value: Priceless)

Dreama and I have been working on a super secret project that shows you exactly how you can get FREE labor, from college educated people, without having to spend a penny on payroll.  This is part of a super-secret new project we’re working on, but you’ll get instant, immediate access to a 4 week coaching program revealing EXACTLY what we’re doing with this.  That’s all I can say about this, but if you realize that you need more resources to help your business grow, but you’re sick of Virtual Assistants, this is one bonus you simply must claim.

BONUS #3- Access Justin & Dreama’s Private Money For Your Commercial Deals (Value: Priceless)

If you have been following Dreama & I for a while you know that we recently sold our million dollar home in Vancouver to move to San Diego (because it’s cheaper here…seriously).  We have set aside some of our funds for great commercial deals.  In fact, we found one in February that pays us a net cash flow of $4,432.19 per month.  But we’re looking for more.  Purchase Karen & DC’s elite level program through our link, and be assured that we’ll personally review any deal that you’re working on and be able to help be private lenders on good deals that you find.  These are our own personal private funds, not someone else’s. Sure no money down deals are possible, but when you have cash to bring to the table, the number (and quality) of deals available to you really opens up.  (Please note that Dreama and I reserve the right to review and inspect all deals before we agree to lend on them).

BONUS #4- Be entered into the following prize drawings (Value: $1,000+)

Buy through our special link and you’ll instantly be entered into a draw for the following items:

Raffle Item #1- Free roundtrip airfare to Karen & DC’s 4 day bootcamp (so you don’t have to pay to attend, you can just show up)

Raffle Item #2- New flip cam

Raffle Item #3- New Ipod Nano

There you have it. Four incredible bonuses available for you by purchasing DC & Karen’s system through my special link. Remember that you must purchase the ELITE level of their system, and also use my link. After you do that, just forward me your receipt and we’ll take care of you.

Did you see CBS’s 60 Minutes last night?  They did a piece on “Strategic Defaults”.  Here is the 12 minute news piece in case you missed it (my thoughts on this below):

Watch CBS News Videos Online

So what are the perils of strategic defaults from the investor’s perspective?

First, you should NEVER suggest to your prospects to stop making payments.  EVER.  Of course, once someone decides to no longer make mortgage payments, and they are already late, then by all means I would engage them about a short sale.

Second, I would strongly encourage you to educate people who are considering just “walking away” on the numerous advantages of a short sale over this strategy.  I actually wrote a blog post about this about a year ago, that you can read here.

Third, you need to be aware of the potential allegations of fraud when working with a strategic default.  Freddie Mac recently came out with an article titled “A Perspective On Strategic Defaults”.  This goes back to point #1, which is you should NEVER be telling a homeowner to default on their mortgage.  My friend and colleague Ron Ballard also has come great insight on this topic on his blog.  And my friends at Old School Title have suggested that investors should start asking for a copy of a homeowner’s credit report to ensure that they short sale they are working is not a plan for a strategic default.

In closing, I would think that we are going to start seeing more strategic defaults.  What I do find interesting, however, is the notion of “just walking away”.  To me, this seems silly, to let your home go into foreclosure, instead of finding a short sale buyer.  I understand that some people don’t want the disturbance of potential buyers looking at their property, but this to me seems a small price to pay in exchange for only having a short sale, and not a foreclosure, on your credit report for the next 7 years.

I would love to read your comments below on this very controversial topic.  Please remember to let us know if you’re addressing it coming from the point of view of an investor, a homeowner, or someone else.

Chase Bank will host multiday foreclosure prevention counseling events in eight markets across the country.  The events will occur over the next five months and the first one will be held in Chicago from May 13-17. Events for Atlanta and Washington, D.C., will follow in June. Dates for the remaining markets — New York, Northern California, Orlando, Phoenix, and Southern California — have not yet been announced.

Now as a real estate investor, how can this benefit you?

Well, do you think that a lot of your prospects (homeowners facing foreclosure) might be at these events?  Did you know that Chase opened 51 Chase Homeownership Centers nationwide to help homeowners facing foreclosure?

Check the list.  Their might even be one in your town.  There’s 2 of them here in San Diego.

My team and I are sitting down today to strategize about how we might be able to work with these centers.

I wouldn’t recommend just running in the door and screaming “We Buy Houses!”.

However, if you think about this strategically, there might be a way to let the people who work at these Chase centers know that you’re interested in buying short sales.

I’d love for you to post a comment and let me know how you might approach these centers and create a win-win-win for everyone involved (Chase, the homeowner, and you).

Karen Hanover, commercial foreclosure & short sale genius got on camera with me to record this short 1 minute video for you.

Watch it now:

The site to visit is www.REIMarketingTips.com/cf
If you have EVER had an interest in commercial property, commercial foreclosures or commercial short sales then check out this FREE video that Karen made for you:

http://www.REIMarketingTips.com/cf

It shows you EXACTLY how to find boatloads of motivated sellers for commercial properties.

After a very fun weekend up in Vancouver, I was catching up on some emails last night before I had to get up early to head to the airport this morning.

I was sent an email about a Freddie Mac update on their website that apparently has put a lot of people into a panic. Naturally, I did some more research online, and found that my good friend Ron Ballard had taken the time to eloquently summarize the many problems he found with the Freddie Mac website page.

Incidentally, as Ron notes in his blog post, the Freddie Mac update actually occurred on April 12th.

So why all of the panic all of sudden?

I think that the best advice I can give anyone is to take a deep breath.  I have seen a number of “emergency webinars” scheduled for this week, and if you can attend them, by all means, do so.

I’m going to wait a few days and then let the dust settle.  I actually spoke to Ron on the phone a few hours ago and he and I will be chatting later this week.  We’ll do a summary for you so that you can get the key, salient points of the what is going on without committing to an entire webinar.

As for me, it’s business as usual.  In fact, we have already picked up 2 new files this week, and we have 2 big meetings with other well known San Diego attorneys this week to discuss strategic partnerships.

As soon as I have more concrete information about what is going on, I’ll be sure to pass it along to you.  For now, take a deep breath, relax, and go out and find some more deals.

Oh yes, and be sure to attend my Debt Settlement webinar on Wednesday evening, April 21st, at 6pm PST/9pm EST.  You’ll be amazed at how you can quickly and easily build a new revenue stream from debt settlement, and it doesn’t involve buying a single property.

I often get feedback not only in my own investing business, but also from students around the country, who get frustrated because other people, (often times realtors with whom they’re trying to network with) tell them that flipping short sales “illegal”.

This actually happened to one of my door knockers very recently. He was calling a home that was listed for sale (evident by the sign out front). After speaking with the owners and getting the agents contact info, he called the agent to let him know that we would like to write an offer on the property (tomorrow).

The agent said that his father had recently been to a DRE seminar here in California, and apparently a CAR attorney had told his father to “steer clear of double escrows”. (Important note: this is 100% hearsay, but let’s assume for the purpose of this blog post that the information is correct).

The agent asked us if we could “send him something” in advance of our meeting. I figured that this might be happening to other people out there as well, so I have included some of the email that we used, so you can use it in your own marketing as well.

Please note that the information below is meant for an email (and NOT a flyer) simply because it contains links. Feel free to copy and paste and use as you see fit:

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Recently, Freddie Mac, FHA and Wells Fargo have all made major changes to their business models to allow for short sale properties to be flipped, legally and ethically. In fact, that’s what me and my company, www.SaveMeFromForeclosure.com do.

Now before you get worried about thinking that we’re doing something “illegal”, I want to point you to 3 specific bulletins from these three major financial institutions that have been issued in the last 6 months:

First, in October of 2009, Freddie Mac released a bulletin that you can download here: http://www.freddiemac.com/sell/guide/bulletins/pdf/bll0924.pdf. On the first page of this bulletin is link to Freddie Mac’s Best Practices for Loans Involving Possible Property Flips, which can be found here: http://www.freddiemac.com/sell/guide/bulletins/pdf/bll0924xA.pdf. Most interesting to note is that Freddie Mac says that

“A property involved in a flip may be resold on the same day or within days, weeks, or months of the purchase. In some cases, the seller of a property flip never holds title to the property, but instead sells or assigns their interest in a contract to purchase the property to a third party.”

Freddie Mac then goes on to say that:

“Property flips are not inherently illegal and not all transactions involving a rapid purchase and resale are improper. Legitimate property flips are acceptable transactions in connection with loans purchased by Freddie Mac.”

Finally, Wells Fargo, who issued more mortgage loans that any other company in 2009, has now allowed their borrowers to buy properties that are being flipped by others. You can see this internal document that Wells Fargo mortgage lending released at the beginning of 2010 here: http://www.macedesigns.com/clients/srec/WellsFargo.pdf

So why is this significant? Three MAJOR players in the United States housing industry are changing their policies and business practices to allow for short sale flips and for homeowners to get mortgages where the seller is “flipping” the property to the buyer.

I’m sure you’ll agree with me that if 3 big time banking giants like HUD, Freddie Mac and Wells Fargo are making these changes, they’re accepting the legitimacy of short sale flips and them as a viable way to help eliminate foreclosures and help rebuild and stabilize the housing market.

In fact, last fall, before 2 of the 3 major announcements were even released, Mr. Lem Marshall, Special Counsel to VAR (the Virginia Association of Realtors) posted an article in their Commonwealth Magazine, a publication that is “A journal for real estate professionals published by the Virginia Association of REALTORS®”

You can read the entire article here.  (The main article is on page 12 of the publication, which is page 14 of the PDF), or, if you prefer a quick 2 page PDF document extracted from the magazine covering this very specific topic, you can download it here. What’s important to note, however, is how Lem ends the article, and his analysis of short sale flips, with the following paragraph:

So who loses? Nobody. Even the tax collectors and insurance folks come out ahead, as they get payments from owners making productive use of the asset. We all gain when inefficiency, uncertainty, and waste are squeezed out of the system. And we help hasten the return of reasonable market valuations, something of great benefit to our communities at large.

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Hopefully that the information can help you in your business.  I would recommend writing the email in your own voice, or even taking the information above and making a 2 or 4 page flyer that you can use to market to agents with short sale listings.  I’m actually in the process of doing that myself, and it will be made available to our community of exclusive SaveMeFromForeclosure.com local representatives.

However feel free to copy and paste any of the information (and links) in this email and use it in your marketing.  I would love get your opinion on what we’ve included here, and how you’re using it in your business, if at all.

Also, if you have any success stories (or challenges) using this information please feel free to post them here in the comments section.  We love hearing success stories, but if you have any challenges using this hopefully as a community we can help you further.

Happy Investing!