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recently one of our short sales was denied in equator.  the reason listed was “oops”.  as a company that manages and facilitates short sales all day everyday, we seem to hear it all!
 
although there have been some significant strides made in the right direction, including the implementation of equator by certain lenders and staffing up, we still find that sometimes what we hear and see from the banks in short sale situations is illogical and really sometimes even downright funny!  after all, if we can’t laugh, we’d likely go insane when it comes to managing short sales.

another funny comment we received on a recent short sale we closed was from the negotiator.  this had to do with their wishes for the seller to bring cash to closing.  it was very apparent with all of the financial disclosures provided to the lender that this seller had absolutely no assets!  when the seller asked where they could come up with funds to bring to closing in order to get the short sale approved, the negotiator simply told them “have a garage sale”!

another seller we worked with literally had $4,000 in his checking account – those were his total assets.  the bank quickly decided they wanted these funds.  this guy had 3 kids and a life to try and pick up the pieces on and this is all the money he had.  they literally were going to have this gentleman bring his last penny to the closing table.  we advised the lender this would be a volatile situation and quickly, the lender backed down.  again, sometimes, we just sit and scratch our heads.  we understand, the banks are trying to get as much as possible to mitigate their loss but to take someone’s last penny is beyond drastic and not logical whatsoever!

we see and hear it all when it comes to these complex, lengthy and frustrating transactions and we know you do too.  the best advice we can give is to keep a sense of humor throughout the process because if you don’t, you will drive yourself nuts; or more likely the banks will drive you there!

would love to hear some of the wacky and potential nonsensical comments in short sales you’ve worked on that have been denied.  what has your experience been overall?  what is the craziest thing you have heard from a lender on a short sale you worked on?

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these codes could be huge in our business, as more web content is viewed using mobile devices.  while less than 25% of cell service customers have smart phones and other mobile devices make up an even smaller percentage, the mobile web won’t stay in its nascent stage very long. in fact, current estimates place the number of web pages viewed on mobile devices higher than those viewed on desktops.

scratching my head

within days of posting that blurb i had the good fortune of meeting with the folks at toor.me, a company that generates qr codes as part of its virtual tour offering to real estate agents. their director of business development, nick smoot, shared with me a story of a presentation he had done for a mid-size brokerage.  nick had finished his presentation to the broker of the firm, showing the owner how consumers are using their smart phones to access information on listed properties.  at the end of the presentation, the broker told nick that he was impressed by the service. “but my agents don’t have smart phones” were the next words out of the owner’s mouth.

for the last time, it’s not about you

if i would’ve been there i would’ve sprayed coffee through my nose at that remark. nick was very diplomatic in his reply, but the fact that the broker even said it is evidence of how the vast majority of this industry still thinks – it’s about us.

newsflash. it’s never been about us. this provider-centric mentally has hung on far too long in our industry and needs to have a stake driven through its heart.  it’s about the consumer. the highest life form on the planet.  let’s get over ourselves and start focusing on what the consumer wants, how they buy and what they use in their decision making process.  cuz if we don’t, someone else is going to step in front of us and help the consumer.

but then, that’s my opinion. maybe i’m just nuts.

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i’ve been seeing a lot of posts lately on a phenomenon that’s building on facebook lately – the “single listing fan page.”

given the popularity of the social networking giant, facebook is starting to make headway with real estate professionals as a marketing bonanza. especially given that fan pages seem to be the ultimate tool to trumpet your business success and promote your offerings. this latest tool is no exception.

designed to promote a single property listed for sale by a broker, the single listing fan page offers the opportunity to showcase the property, giving all the salient facts, price, location and multiple photo albums. tied together with the rest of the marketing campaign, this newest form of digital promotion aims to get more eyeballs on the property. what with multiple property sites to advertise on, email marketing campaigns, virtual tours and such, this added “feature sheet” really rounds out the marketing strategy for the property. and it certainly couldn’t hurt, right?

it could if you’re not minding your p’s and q’s

and those p’s and q’s in this instance are the advertising requirements of the regulatory body overseeing real estate licensees in the particular state or province you practice in.

not that i’m well-versed in every state’s regulations, but i’ve been licensed in a few that require certain information be included with any advertisement of a property or service offered by a real estate licensee. and yes, a facebook fan page (also known as an ‘official page’) is advertising. if you don’t think so, just ask your real estate licensing body. and your attorney.

it’s already ugly

of the single listing fan pages i’ve been asked to like on facebook, 75% immediately jump out at me with potential violations. no company name. “oops.” no office phone number. “i meant to put that on there.” violation of regulation z. “they don’t really watch that, do they?” no license number (in states that require it, such as california). “my bad.” violation of an agent’s fiduciary duty to their client. “did i really say that?”

wake up and smell the coffee

social media offers many businesses a new set of tools to promote and advertise their wares. but new tools don’t equate to new rules. use some common sense and apply what you know of your state’s advertising regulations to this ‘new’ digital medium. don’t just take some ‘guru’s word that this is what you should be doing without regard of how it could impact your livelihood. ask your broker or manager before you create your property page. and if they don’t know, call me.

putting your license at risk is insane.

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is that a sustainable strategy?

i have to admit, when i first thought i was going to get back into sales, i had the same mindset.  i had lived that cycle in the early- to mid-90′s in northern california, and it wasn’t an area i relished getting back into.  but as luck would have it, i never even got to determine a track in residential sales again.  instead i went straight into the speaking/training/consulting arena fresh off the corporate gig.  but if i had decided to pursue sales again, it’s likely i wouldn’t have been able to avoid short sales.  at least not if i wanted to eat.

i commend those that can stay the course and avoid doing short sales at their choosing.  that demonstrates a strong referral and repeat book of business in my estimation.  and if you can make that work in this economy, then by all means keep on keepin’ on.

but i’d like to hear others’ perspectives on this “short sale avoidance.”  is this a syndrome? or a sustainable strategy?  or just crazy talk in this economic climate?

i’d appreciate your comments.

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if you’re relatively new to social networking, let me offer one word of advice: don’t talk business all the time.  ok, that’s more like six words of advice, but it bears repeating: don’t talk business all the time.  there.  now you’ve got twelve words of advice.

what i’m talking about here is the status updates so prominently featured in all social networks – facebook, linkedin, plaxo, ecademy, twitter, etc.  you know them by various questions – “what are you doing?” or “what are you working on now?”  invitations prompting you to tell your network what’s going on in your life at that moment.  handy little snippets of information to help your connections keep up with you.

some take the status update literally, offering up every nuance of their day, such as “having pancakes with my 9 year old,” or “going for my 3rd cup of starbucks this morning.”  not that there’s anything wrong with that.  just as long as these types of updates are done in moderation and with a modicum of taste.  believe me, when you start telling me about your dog’s bm’s, i’m gonna have to pass and say tmi.

others take the status update opportunity as an open invitation to smother you with marketing messages.  in the real estate industry, i see this all the time, and especially on facebook.  realtors who throw every listing into their status updates, hoping to expose their property to a buyer lurking in their network.  these same realtors place every price reduction, open house, buyer tour and offer they’re presenting in the feed, thinking that their network wants to hear about it.  well, newsflash kids.  they don’t.

would you subscribe to comcast if they only showed commercials?

the reason i accepted your friend request on facebook or decided to follow you on twitter was that i wanted to get to know more about you, the person.  heck, even connecting with you on linkedin i had hoped to learn something more than the product or service you were selling.  i was looking for some value in our connection.  instead, you give me spam.

you see, i’ll take a promotional plug every once in awhile, but if you’re going to pollute my stream with advertising constantly, why would i want to stay connected / continue following / be your friend?  i mean, would you pay comcast a monthly subscription if their programming only offered commercials?  didn’t think so.

stop social network pollution

if you’re currently using your status updates, wall posts and tweets to talk business incessantly, stop it.  stop it now.  do it before i unfollow / unfriend / disconnect you from my network.  and if you run across someone within your networks that’s bombarding you with marketing, send them a nice note encouraging them to provide those messages a little less frequently. and if they continue spamming you after your friendly warning, nuke em.

if you don’t, they’ll make you crazy.

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oh yeah?

it all started with a comment from one well intentioned realtor to an agent that had been posting listings on facebook without using the state required information for real estate advertising (brokerage name, etc.). the well intentioned realtor pointed out, nicely, that the posting agent should consider adding that information so as not to run afoul of the authorities. the response back from the posting agent was less than polite, spurring other agents to jump in and respond in agreement with said well intentioned realtor. after some discussion (public, no less, on each party’s wall), the final response from the posting agent to one of the commenters amounted to a very public insult, likely a violation of a standard of practice from the realtor’s code of ethics.

if you can’t say something nice about someone…

my mother always told me, “if you can’t say something nice about someone, at least wait until they leave the room.” well, social networking sites like facebook are big rooms, and even though we may think we’re talking directly to someone there, we need to remember that other ears may be listening. conversations or posts placed on walls and through status updates are very public, and can be used against us if we’re not careful about what we say. to air a personal beef in such a public forum not only tarnishes the image of the person hurling epithets, but brings the rest of us down to that level, lumping us all into the back-biting, opportunist, i’d-step-over-your-body-to-close-a-sale image that many in the public have for our profession.

leave me outta this

i’d just as soon not be categorized into that group, thank you very much, so for those of you engaged in this type of “smackdown engagement,” please stop showing your lunacy and childish behaviour in public.  take your disagreements and petty arguments offline.  pick up the phone and yell at someone in private if you must, just don’t malign the rest of us with your antics.  we’ve already got enough of an uphill battle to convince the consumer we’re not crazy.

and sometimes that’s not an easy task.

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alphabet soup

but it would appear we’re headed overboard in our pursuit of designations in the real estate industry. some agents have taken to fold-out cards to accomodate all their designations, and there are new designations being marketed each month to an insatiable market of letter hungry real estate practitioners. when is enough enough?

‘splain please

i know.  sounds funny coming from a guy that’s got enough letters behind his name to ensure a win at scrabble, but seriously – do we really need all those designations?  sure, the education’s worthwhile, but after you’ve got 3 or 4 under your belt, is it necessary to promote the other 3 or 4?  who’s going to care?  or even know what they mean?

i’ve had my crs designation for 15 years now, and although the council of residential specialists does the best job at promoting their designation to the general public, i still find myself explaining to clients what those 3 letters behind my name mean.  now add abr, crb, gri and e-pro, and you can see how i’m spending even more time explaining what those letters mean.  still, i find value in the designations and the education i received in achieving them, but i’m not too wild about taking more courses just to get some more letters behind my name.  in fact, i’m currently working on other designation courses, but will likely choose not to promote those designations for fear of needing aforementioned fold-out card.

i don’t know. is it just me, or is this crazy?

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but when you’re closing transactions that require 6 pounds of paper to fulfill every party’s legal and business requirements in order to make the file “complete,” doesn’t it seem like we’re missing something?  the focus to this point in nar’s green programs has been primarily on green building, sustainable living, energy-saving appliances and reducing the carbon footprint of buyer, seller and realtor (don’t drive buyers all over town without qualifying properties).  it would seem to me that we should be highlighting the tremendous waste and inefficiency of our transactions first, reducing the number of trees we grind into pulp from three to less than one for the paperwork required for each closing.

how far does this go?

i used to teach classes to realtors in california on how to work with first time home buyers.  one of the early sections of the course dealt with the angst first time purchasers felt with the process and the paperwork.  to illustrate how daunting it seemed to the uninitiated, i taped, end-to-end, each of the required documents (only those required to write the purchase contract with the realtor, not the required documents from title, lender, etc.), and unrolled the result down the center of the classroom.  it unfurled about 25 feet.

it was a great learning tool to illustrate the number of documents required to initiate the purchase.  it didn’t take into account the fact that these forms were produced in triplicate (if not more!), and didn’t address how many of these documents would be faxed and copied for distribution to other parties, increasing the amount of paper needed to ensure a successful (closed) transaction.  looking back, i think if i would’ve added the lender’s docs and title company’s forms to that roll, i would’ve had a paper trail that would’ve encircled the building!  now that would’ve scared some first time buyers, and it likely would’ve caused some of those newly licensed realtors to reconsider their new vocation.

in a recent transaction, i had to print each document out in hard copy, fax it into the transaction management system provided by my office (does anyone else think this is wrong?), then forward it on to the listing agent.  she in turn emailed a copy to her client, who then had to print it out, sign it, scan it and return it to her agent.  the listing agent would then forward back to me, and both of us would print the document out and place it in a file folder.  if you lost count, that’s four documents reproduced from one.  multiply that by several necessary forms, many with multiple pages, and you can see how a transaction file can go from a thin folder to the size of the denver phone book in short order.

now, to be fair, shame on us for being enablers.  but when it’s acceptable practice, and the offices, agents, title companies and lenders are not equipped to perform in the digital age, the transaction will flow like water – taking the path of least resistance.  in this case, pulping three trees into paper.

a novel concept

why not implement some new ideas that might get us moving more quickly into a more environmentally friendly transaction?  borrowing a page from the compliance market, let’s implement a similar program to the carbon offset approach, in which companies (and now individuals in the voluntary market) can mitigate their own greenhouse gas emissions by purchasing offsets.  it’s kind of like, “i know i’m going to be bad, so let me pay for being bad.”  not that we’ll change our “bad” behavior, but we’ll have our penance.  and salvage our conscience.

an even easier plan would be to provide a disincentive for paper use to all parties involved in a transaction.  for every pound of paper produced, the closing company will assess each of the offending parties for their overindulgence in paper.  realtor – three pounds of paperwork will cost you $300.  title company – your hit is $600.  problem solved.

now we’ll have to get the state’s department of weights and measurements involved.  i smell a new tax.  crazy.

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Flickr image by Sparticus007

vacationing muse returns

after wading through 46 comments posted to the blog from escort companies in kiev, i’m ready to throw some blog spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks.  and no, i didn’t abandon the blog – i was waiting for just the right moment for my muse to reappear and whisper in my ear.

that whispering became an ear-splitting shriek in recent weeks as i’ve talked with brokers from around the country and come to the realization that our industry could be headed for more trouble.  the reason?  the use of social media by agents and the complete disregard or lack of education in how to use these tools properly.

it’s all fun and games until somebody puts an eye out

i’m stoked more real estate professionals are jumping on board the social media bandwagon. they’re starting to recognize how blogs and social networks can impact their business positively by enlarging their marketing influence, reducing their advertising expenses and providing communication with their spheres.  but i’m also nervous that many of them are treating these new tools as if there were new (or no) rules, and not considering how some of the things they say and do in the social spaces can actually harm them.  and their companies.

which “o” are you?

what’s more surprising and more frightening is that brokers and managers have not stepped up to address the possible risks involved with their agents’ use of social media.  i’m seeing posts on facebook that clearly violate most states’ advertising requirements, and tweets that would cause ambulance chasing attorneys to salivate over the chance to sue an agent and company over their breach of fiduciary duty.  not to mention all the possible violations of article 12 of the realtor code of ethics. it’s crazy to say the least.

but what i can’t figure out is why we in management are not doing anything about it. is it because we’re overwhelmed?  the market is tough, deals are harder to come by and make stick, and we’ve got got to nurture and support our agents as they struggle through a difficult market.  surely we’ve got more important things to attend to than to worry about monitoring an agents blog?

or does the problem lie in the fact that we’re oblivious to what’s going on out there? not tuned in to the fact that thousands of agents are rushing to the social media party because it’s the happenin’ place?  sure, we’ve heard of facebook, myspace, twitter and the like – it’s all over the media.  but aren’t these sites for people who have too much time on their hands?  sharing inappropriate photos and talking about what they had for breakfast?  who’d use these networks for business?

the other, more dangerous possibility is that we’re aware of these risks, but we’re choosing to ignore them.  placing our head in the sand like the proverbial ostrich (yeah, i know – they don’t really do this, but it’s a metaphor).  hoping social media goes away, or that our agents will ignore these diversions.  unfortunately, neither is going to happen.  social networking and blogging are not fads, and are not going to go away.  and our sales associates are not going to ignore them, when millions of consumers are using these sites to connect and communicate.  not to mention that agents recognize these sites are a great way to market and prospect.  for free.  not bad in this market

time to face the music

regardless of the reasoning or cause (which “o” are you?), we in management are going to have to accept that these tools can be used effectively for our business, as long as we’ve set some ground rules.  so, if you’ve identified which “o” you are, here are some simple steps to get working on those ground rules:

• overwhelmed – get help.  pure and simple.  this business isn’t going to get any easier, and my experience has shown that it gets more challenging every year.  gear up.
• oblivious – get educated.  the world is changing ever so rapidly around us, and if we’re not in tune with those changes, we won’t be able to adapt.  and if evolution has taught us anything, it’s that those that can’t adapt become extinct.
• ostrich – pull your head out of…um…the sand. thinking social media will go away if we ignore it is on par with thinking computerized mls information was a fad.

call me crazy, but that’s the way i see it.

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while i was sitting in class, mind wandering to all the emails, phone calls and work that i needed to attend to, it struck me that in order to grow i needed to push myself.  and i was pushing myself: little sleep, added stress and less time to do my normal workload.  all for the opportunity to learn. but the realization came that if i wanted to better myself – to become a better broker, instructor, coach and mentor – i’d need to devote time and stretch my abilities.  if i wanted to become better, there was no magic pill, no short cut, no silver bullet, to get me to that level.

i’ve found in these challenging markets most of us face that there are a lot of people looking for that magic formula – the one gizmo, gadget or whirlygig that will bring us success.  maybe the key phrase that’ll turn lookers to buyers, or the prop that will get us every listing we set out after.  we’re looking for the quick fix, the magic elixir that we can drink with the promise it will deliver a deal tomorrow or next week.  but it ain’t out there. there ain’t no magic potion, and there ain’t no silver bullet.

in times like these, there’s only the realization that we have to expand our thinking and try new things.  ‘cuz the old things ain’t working.  as soon as we recognize that and stop chasing the quick fix for our business, we’ll be ready to move forward.

and if we’re not going to move forward, we’re gonna take a bullet.

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