BiggerPockets

Uh. OK.

Uh! How do us Realtors help those in need?

I have no power to those who do not want it.

I cannot count the times, I have heard some one say, "I haven't made a mortgage payment in 3 months, and they are going to take my house"
I tell them, "SELL, and list it at a price that it will sell fast!"
...do they? Nope! they see $$ and try to make profit, instead of getting out of their rut.

OR

They say, "I will just stay here, save my money until they take the house"
The bank then gives them 'cash for keys', they trash the house, because they don't want the bank to make anything off the sale. Because they are angry they didn't make their own payments?

So how do we help them again? The only solution I can think of is to 'try' to talk these people out of getting into the loan we know they can't afford? I have told many that they cannot afford thier payments, and we should look for something less expensive. MOST do not want to hear it.

But hey! I am open for suggestions!

Originally posted by Wheatie

Or, what that post was supposed to mean.

Nah that's just Dusty. She tries to sound mean but I'm just too distracted by how hot she is.

She's right though. Realtors can help by selling the house and chances are they've sold a lot more than you. Listen to the pros.

Tim

P.S. My realtor helps "those" in need by finding me good REO properties so I can provide decent tenant housing for people who've lost their homes.

Thanks for backing me tim. It's true that many Real Estate investors are selfish, but there are good ones out there who really do help those in mortgage/default trouble.

If you think about it, real estate agents can step in and help. It's no secret that homeowners are struggling -- but so are agents.

Their phones aren't exactly ringing off the hooks with people wanting to buy a home right now. But who's buying? Investors.

If real estate agents take on a more consultative role as an advocate for these homeowners, they can still make money and can throw a lifeline to these homeowners facing foreclosure.

Someone facing foreclosure doesn't reallyhave anyone in their corner. The lender is looking out for their own best interest -- not the homeowner's. A lot of times the homeowner has slid too far down the cliff to realistically make it back. But if they ask the bank what they should do the bank will almost universally say, "Send us some money. Let's get you current." Why?

Because they're strapped for cash. They sure don't need more houses -- and cash reserves -- on their books.

The government tells homeowners to contact their lenders for equitable solutions, but so far only a few hundred thousand workouts have been done. That's not many considering the numbers in or facing foreclosure. Homeowners are stuck.

More and more states are requiring realtor involvement in short sale transactions (for instance Oregon and soon to be California). As this mess deepens look for more states (if not the feds) to adopt punitive measures designed to "protect" homeowners from a problem Congress created.

If real estate agents act a little more like a financial planner and show homeowners what they know and approach the transaction not from a standpoint of making money primarily, but offering help to hurting people, they can hook homeowners up with investors who can buy through short sales or whatever.

The real estate agent can still get a commission, the investor can get a good deal, and the homeowner can walk away without a foreclosure on their credit report.

They lose their home, but I think there's a great chance that they're going to call that real estate agent in a few years when they're ready to take another trip down Home Ownership Road.

There are a few variables involved here, namely, a willingness for the homeowner to come to grips with the idea that their days in their home are numbered.

But it can work -- if agents can work with brokers and think long term instead of short. And brokers and investors will have to set aside some of the petty animosity that sometimes causes them to think so little of one another.

Peter Vekselman

Originally posted by Dusty Contreras

Tim, I don't think I am mean..... I am mean...

You go girl!......I agree with Dusty. Also, commissions on short sales are determined by the bank anyway, not us selfish real estate agents.

Originally posted by Corey Williams

...So bring on the sellers that want to sell and the investers that want to buy.

Good luck! I have been working with 2 specific investors for over a year an a half and I absoluely love it, and them! They have become 2 of my best fiends.

Matt needs to chime up here! lol..

I would say the key to keeping your investors happy is being the first to find them the best deals, build great repoirs with the REO realtors, banks and appraisers! It takes ALOT more work then your every day buyer and seller, but repeat business is worth its weight in gold, and friendship will last a lifetime.

In this market, investors are the key to being successful, and this would e the site to meet them by my prediction.

again, good luck!!

To the original poster, yes lets not blame the people who bought what they could not afford, lets blame the agents that presented the property. That is the mindset that makes this country great. No personal responsibility.

To the posters just starting in real estate,
real estate agents are having trouble getting property sold, not because of a lack of interest, but because of the lack of financing. In some places, you have to show an agent a 700+ credit score and a bank statement with a down payment for them to even talk to you. My advice to struggling agents would be to actively seek out financing options for their clients. Line up some private investors, or some of the few people still in the subprime game, or investor groups like ours who base funding off of property value, and down payment instead of credit score.

If you have options that you can present to your clients, you will sell more property, and develop good relationships with the lenders/investors/finance groups that you are hooking people up with