February 7, 2008
REO Training Class
Becoming and REO Agent
Listing & Selling Banked Owned Property
Starts Wednesday 2/13/2008 at 6pm
7412 Elsie Ave
Sacramento, CA 95828
Register today.
Filed under Elite News & Updates, Training by chris
January 29, 2008
Register for the Commercial Real Estate Class
Commercial Real Estate Training
Starts Thursday, January 31, 2008
6:00pm – 8:00pm
7412 Elsie Ave
Sacramento, CA 95828
Filed under Elite News & Updates, Training by chris
January 23, 2008
Short Sale Resource
Hi,
Hope you all enjoyed the Short Sale Seminar tonight - great information to help in this challenging market !!! Thank you for braving the weather and coming out on such a stormy night.
Below is a sample Hardship Letter that Scott Thompson has provided - If you are need any help, please don’t hesitate to call me for anything.
Julie Williams 916-223-2347, williamsjul@ctt.com
P.S. Those Short Sale Transaction Folders are available to you - I have more on order!!
The Hardship Letter
The central document in the Short Sale package that will be submitted to the mortgage lender(s) that will be taking a loss is the Hardship Letter. The Hardship Letter provides the homeowner with an opportunity to state their case as to why they can no longer afford to make their mortgage payment.
The Hardship Letter should be an honest, heartfelt statement outlining the circumstances that have created the problem. It should include these components:
1. A brief apology for having to ask the lender to take a loss
2. A description of the steps the homeowner has taken (used credit cards, borrowed from family, borrowed from retirement accounts) to stay current on the mortgage
3. A clear statement that the homeowner has exhausted all available options to stay current on the mortgage and that a Short Sale is the only remaining option, other than foreclosure.
While it is important for the home owner to provide a complete picture of their hardship, it is also important to avoid a letter that is excessively long. In order to get a loss mitigator to understand the hardship, the loss mitigator needs to read the letter and connect with the writer. Limit the letter to a manageable length.
If possible, attach to the Hardship Letter any documents, receipts or notices that support the homeowners hardship.
Examples:
- Layoff notice
- Letter from employer outlining a reduction in pay or a reduction in hours
- Cancellation notices for medical insurance or auto insurance due to non payment
- Delinquency notices from creditors and/or service and utility providers
- Letters from doctors regarding injury or illness
- Disability benefits letter
- Divorce or separation papers
- Receipt for excessive payments for medications or emergency payments
- Any documents supporting a family crisis hardship
Agents/ Brokers
Do not send in a hardship Letter to a Lender before reviewing it. Look it over and suggest changes if necessary, so the letter brings the hardship alive. You get one chance to submit a strong Hardship Letter, take full advantage of it.
Keep in mind that if your Seller sends the Hardship Letter directly to the Lender you are not going to have the opportunity to review it. Always send the Hardship Letter to the Lender as part of your Short Sale package.
BORROWER HARDSHIP LETTER EXAMPLE #1
I am unable to keep current with my mortgage due to divorce. I am receiving no financial support from my husband and I have been a homemaker for the past 12 years. I am employed, but because of my lack of skills, I am unable to earn much more than minimum wage.
I have two children at home ages 7 and 9. With the cost of daycare and my other obligations there is just no way to make the mortgage payment. I have used up any available credit just to keep food on the table.
I cannot keep up my home and must sell it. The real estate market is such that I owe more than my home is worth. My only other option would be to file bankruptcy.
I am an honest, hardworking person and it is devastating for me to find myself in this awful position.
I would deeply appreciate any help you can offer.
Sincerely,
BORROWER HARDSHIP LETTER EXAMPLE #2
My wife has recently suffered a devastating illness. She is unable to continue working and it may be years before she is well enough to work. She has been the primary wage earner in our family for the past 10 years.
My income cannot come close to covering our monthly expenses. We find ourselves deeper in debt every month with no relief in the foreseeable future. I have sold our second car and anything else that we do not absolutely need. Our home is large and the minimum monthly expenses for the upkeep, electricity, gas, etc. are very high.
Our only hope at this time is to sell our home. Unfortunately, if we sell our home in the present slow real estate market, we will be upside down about $30,000.00. Our only other alternative is bankruptcy.
We would appreciate any help you are able to provide.
Sincerely,
BORROWER HARDSHIP LETTER EXAMPLE #3
As a result of upward adjustments to our monthly mortgage payment, my wife and I are unable to afford our mortgage. As I sit here today it’s not clear to me how I ever thought that we could afford the mortgage once payments started adjusting. I wish my loan officer would have explained to us where our monthly payments were going to be when they adjusted.
We have borrowed money from family and we have taken cash advances on credit cards, but we are falling further and further behind with no real hope of affording the payment. At this point, we can’t do it any longer.
Both my wife and I are very sorry that this has happened. We are losing our dream house, and we know you are losing too. We just don’t have any other options.
Please work with us on a Short Sale. We don’t want to go through foreclosure, but if we can’t do a Short Sale we will not be able to avoid it.
Thank you for your consideration.
Filed under Marketing, Title & Escrow, Training by Julie
December 14, 2007
Things are changing so fast…
Things are changing so fast online, and Web 2.0 is taking over! Thats right! WEB 2.0 is taking over.. Mashups (a web application that combines data from more than one source into a single integrated tool) are the newest buzz , and there will certainly be much cooler stuff to come in the not so distant future. Hopefully these technologies will continue to make it easier to learn about, buy, sell, or rent properties. What are the coolest real estate web 2.0 sites out there right now?
1) Zillow Zillow came out of nowhere and took the real estate world by storm. It allows anyone to find rough estimates of the valuation of their home by searching comparible properties. While values are not always accurate, the site continues to get it better.
2) RealEstate ABC
RealEstate ABC just released their Beta property valuation tool to compete directly with Zillow. It uses Google Maps in its technology mashup and allows you to do cool things like adjust values of properties given certain market conditions, web 2.0 style, something Zillow does not have. They seem to have beaten Zillow at their own game.
3) Trulia Trulia scrapes real estate sites to find listings and brings it all together in a clean, well designed site. Using Google maps and RSS feeds, the site seems to have taken the lead in the future of online property listings. I’m looking forward to see how they begin to compete with Craigslist for FSBO listings.
4) HotPads.com
Hotpads.com is an apartment, corporate housing, and roomate search site for the next era. With interactive mapping, great graphics and free listings, this is one site to watch! (Note: they don’t have a ton of listings, yet, but this cool site will catch on)
5) Propsmart
Propsmart.com, is another site that crawls the world wid web for property listings. It uses GoogleMaps for interactivity.
6) Google
Who better than Google to use Google’s technology for real estate? KING-KONG is jumping into the game, bringing fear to the hearts of real estate web entrepreneurs everywhere.
7) HousingMaps (Honorable Mention)
HousingMaps.com is one of the innovators of the real estate space of Web 2.0. Dreamworks software engineer, Paul Rademacher, created it with a blend of Craigslist and GoogleMaps to introduce one of the first recognized real estate 2.0 websites.
Coming Soon - BiggerPockets
BiggerPockets.com is undergoing our very own Web 2.0 transformation as we speak.
These sites are all leaders in the web 2.0 real estate.
Filed under Elite News & Updates, Marketing, Training by Elite Realty Services
December 12, 2007
How To Install Winforms Online
Filed under Elite News & Updates, Training by Elite Realty Services
November 26, 2007
Real Estate Training Class 11-26-2007
Real Estate Training Class
Monday, November 26, 2007
Counter Offers and Addendums
6:30pm - 8:00pm
The SuperCenter
7412 Elsie Ave
Sacramento, CA 95828
Filed under Elite News & Updates, Training by Elite Realty Services
November 18, 2007
Purchase Contract Class #2
Purchase Contract Class #2 resumes Monday, November 19th, 2007
Class will be held at:
7412 Elsie Ave
Sacramento, CA 95828
6:30pm - 8:30pm
Filed under Elite News & Updates, Training by Elite Realty Services
October 29, 2007
re: Upcoming Workshops and Classes
Hello Everyone,
Based on all the feedback we received, this is how we will be structuring the upcoming workshops and events at the SuperCenter.
We will have classes two days a week every Monday and Thursday starting at 6:30pm and ending at 8:00pm. Classes will be held at the SuperCenter located at: 7412 Elsie Ave, Sacramento, CA 95828.
The first class is being held on Monday, November 5th, 2007 from 6:30pm - 8:00pm. The topic of the first class is "The Purchase Contract" We will be following up the Monday classes covering all the basics such as: Addendum’s, Counter Offers, and Disclosures, Escrow procedures, mortgage training, 1003. So if you need training in this area please attend and also for those team leaders, please remember to tell all your new agents to attend the training on November 5th, 2007.
Starting Thursday, November 8th, 2007 from 6:30pm - 8:00pm, our Broker Robert Do will be finishing up the Commercial Classes. There are four more classes left until the final exam.
The training schedule will be posted online this week for the month of November 2007 this week, so stay tuned..
To your success,
Chris Ha
Filed under Elite News & Updates, Training by Elite Realty Services
October 24, 2007
UPCOMING WORKSHOPS AND CLASSES
Real Estate Training Classes
1. Purchase Contract-Basics
2. Purchase Contract-Advance and Practice
3. Submitting a Golden Offer to Drastically increase your chances of acceptance
4. Listing Agreement-Basics
5. Advance Disclosures and Forms
6. Escrow Procedures and Coordination
7. Becoming an Investor Specialist Special Trainer (Robert T. Do)
8. Commercial Real Estate Basics Special Trainer (Robert T. Do)
9. Foreclosure Real Estate Special Trainer (Robert T. Do)
10. Planning Instead of Praying: How to plan to become a millionaire
agent instead of praying to become one with Robert Do
11. Turning Yourself into a Superstar with Robert Do
12. Title and Escrow Procedures
13. Customer Service and Farming
14. Preliminary Title Reports
15. Working your Sphere of Influence: Getting Business for Life
16. Working FSBO and Expired Listings
17. Appraisals: What to watch for
18. Buyer and Seller Net Sheet
19. Business Planning and Goal Setting
20. 1031 Exchange
21. Agent Web Site and Custom Set-Up
22. New Real Estate Technology 2.0 Workshop
23. Real Estate Blogging
23. Meet Our Vendors Day
Loan FAST Start Topics
1. How to Qualify Buyers:
Learn how to qualify your buyers on the spot, the 3 C’s of credit analysis, other tricks of field underwriting so that your loans submitted will flow smoothly in the underwriting process.
2. How to Fill Out the Loan Application:
Learn how to complete accurately and legibly fill out the loan application correctly so that your loan will meet bank and lender underwriting requirements.
3. All About Credit:
Learn about FICO Scoring and what every lender uses to underwrite loans. We also show you how to read credit reports, understand problem areas, and how to help your clients improve their credit.
4. How to do a Loan Analysis:
Learn how to understand your client’s needs, analyze and determine what type of loan is best for your client and meet underwriting requirements.
5. The Loan Process:
Learn how a loan flows through escrow and processing, underwriting, and funding can help prevent potential problems to your loan. Learn the intricacies of the loan application, credit report, appraisals, bank statements, etc. and see how they impact turnaround times.
6. How to Read Wholesale Rate Sheets:
Learn how to read lenders’ wholesale loan rate sheets to maximize giving the best rate to your borrower and maximize your income. Learn all about add-ons, incentives, lock periods and lender commitment.
7. How to Fill out Good Faith Estimate (GFE):
Learn how to fill out the Good Faith Estimate (GFE) (2 page MLSD Form) covering the range of costs associated with buying a home, residential investment, or refinancing your current loan. Understand these closing costs line by line.
8. Learn about Different Loan Products offered by Lenders:
Learn the details and variables of every loan type program available, and how to sell the loan to your clients.
9. How to Choose a Lender:
Learn which type of loan is best for your clients, and which lender has the right program such as 30-yr fixed, 15-yr fixed, 5-yr fixed, 3-yr fixed, ARM, secondary financing, conforming, non-conforming, line of credit, jumbo, interest only, no point, not costs, etc.
10. Mortgage Tune-Up - Refinancing:
Learn how and when to refinance your clients loans; to read loan disclosures, and explain to your clients their consumer rights. This will help build rapport and trust with your clients.
11. All About Stated Loans:
Learn everything you need and want to know about Stated Income and Assets Guideline Loan Program which is needed when your client’s income and assets are not enough to qualify for a full documents loan and the best rate loan program.
12. Option ARM Loans:
Learn about Adjustable Rate Loans which allows clients to qualify for more expensive properties. This allows clients to pick the most appropriate monthly payment and provides clients flexibility in loan selection.
13. How to Read Disclosures:
Learn how to read loan disclosures and explain to your clients their consumer rights. This will help build rapport and trust with your clients.
Filed under Elite News & Updates, Training by Elite Realty Services
October 4, 2007
Interact with potential buyers and sellers online
If you’re looking to get more sales in this market, the basic foundation of your business is quite simple: it all comes down to lead generation (the number – and quality – of people who see your offers) and conversion (the ratio of those people who use your services).
One of the best ways to quickly increase your business is to use Real Estate 2.0 based social web sites that allow you to interact with your target audience.
Trulia voices is an online community that was launched just a few months ago for people to find and share local real estate information. Right now there are many people in our area online such as local residents, home buyers, home sellers and people that want to relocate.
All these people are online with questions and are looking for answers. It’s almost the same as doing an open house and having potential buyers and neighbors coming in to your open house interacting with you and asking you questions.
All questions and answers are submitted by buyers, sellers, and real estate agents, then the answers are even rated by users. The service is very user friendly and the signup process quick.
Here are some tips when using the service.
1. People go online searching for an answer to their problem, not so much searching for a Realtor.
2. The more good, relevant information you can provide, the better your chances of doing business with this person.
3. When answering questions, avoid saying things like: “I can help you get the best home, call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx”, I’m the best agent in Sacramento, Lets meet next week so I can help you find a home, etc . Just provide the answer and indicate if they have any other questions, they can get in touch with you by clicking on the link below (which goes to your agent web site)
4. Be sure to include the link to your web site in your profile because every time you post an answer, your web site link will be there so if someone wants to get in touch with you, all they have to do is click on the link and your contact information will show up.
Check it out at http://www.trulia.com/voices
To your success,
Chris Ha
PS – in the next few weeks, I have a few cool things to share with you. For now, check out http://www.trulia.com/voices and stay tuned for some really cool emails from me!
Filed under Elite News & Updates, Marketing, Training by Elite Realty Services
