Central Florida Short Sales

Hi folks. Have Short Sales got you down? I know from experience that dealing with Short Sales all day every day can be very frustrating. BUT......it is what it is. NAR put up a good fight a few years back to keep Banks out of Real Estate. And NAR won!!! You wouldn't think that today would you? Banks found their own way to control the Real Estate market.....REOs and Short Sales.

I struggle with this because I'm a control freak. Not only do I have to be in control but things have to make sense to me.

Kind of funny in this current market isn't it? I have no control and nothing makes sense. But Real Estate is what I do. So I have to keep moving forward. I have to figure out how to work within the system. People in my market need my help and I would be letting them down if I didn't learn everything I can about Short Sales.

That's why Wendy Rulnick  and I created www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com. We needed a place to go where we could get help and support from others in our industry that are going through the same things. If you haven't joined us yet then you are missing out. We now have almost 3,600 members who are helping each other with Short Sales.

You do NOT have to go it alone. Pop on over an join us. We'd love to have you. Here are some samples of the conversations going on today:

***CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO JOIN US. BUYERS AND SELLERS ARE WELCOME***

Are you facing foreclosure in Florida?

Hi Folks. If you are involved with any Bank of America Short Sales then you know that they have been using www.Equator.com to help make the process go smoother. My opinion is that it is working like a charm. Bank of America Short Sale approvals are coming in 45-60 days instead of the 6-12 months they used to take.

The Equator system is quite simple. Just upload the contract information and away you go. If you do your assigned "tasks" in a timely fashion you shouldn't have much difficulties.

However, you also have to make sure the Seller is doing their tasks on time. Sellers have to call into Bank of America to start the process as well. I usually have them do this the same day I start the Short Sale through Equator. When they call in Bank of America will give them a password and direct them to the consumer portal at www.BankofAmerica.com/ShortSale  This site is where the Sellers will enter all of their financial information.

I like this new system a lot because I no longer have to handle the sellers tax returns, bank statements, pay check stubs and financial statement. BUT....it's my job to make sure they are prepared. First they have to be able to have all of these documents in PDF files to upload. One file for each document. If they don't have a scanner to do this they can email me the documents. Since I use an Efax it will automatically convert the fax into PDF files. I can then just attach the files to an email and send it back to my seller. They now  have a PDF file to upload. Simple.

I also prepare them for the info that is needed by sending them the file below. This way they can fill in the blanks BEFORE they log on to the Bank of America Short Sale portal.

Being successful at Short Sales is all about being organized and educating our Buyers, Sellers and other agents. I hope this helps. If you need more help pop over and join us at www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com That's where the pros hang out.

  Seller Equator Pack

FIND A SHORT SALE AGENT BY CLICKING ON THE MAP

Hi Folks. Whether you're an agent, buyer, seller or investor you really need to come check us out over at www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com.  Our members are the best Short Sale Professionals in the business and are sharing what they know for FREE!! You do NOT have to go it alone. Pop on over and tell us what we can do to assist you.

Here's what a couple of our Short Sale Buyer members had to say this week:

• Thank you Bryant, it's good to know this is going to (hopefully) be an easy transaction. By the way, great site. Very informative and it's helped me understand what a Short Sale is, as a Buyer it's nice to know some of the "terminology" and wording in the short sale process. God Bless. DC 
  

• First I have to say, I absolutely love this website! It is a great site to come to get immediate responses from people who clearly have done their research and are professionals. I am an anxious Buyer. Vicki

We also have many other great conversations taking place. Our Short Sale Professionals are discussing.....

Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative H.A.F.A

• We submitted a "traditional" short sale package about a month ago.  My clients asked me on Wednesday (April 7th) about HAFA - would they qualify and be guaranteed no deficiency?  Well, I called up WF and asked them. READ THE FULL POST HERE  

Equator.com

• I am currently attempting to buy a listed short sale home.  The contract was initiated on 1/28/10 which I offered the listed price; however, I requested 3% to closing costs.  The listing agent informed my realtor....READ THE FULL POST HERE
  

Bank of America

• Has anyone been successful in getting BOFA to rescind/reverse a foreclosure while it was in short sale review? FIND THE ANSWER HERE
  

Got a deal we can help you with?

• I am negotiating a short sale with GREEN TREE (second loan) The negotiation is turning into a nightmare. First Green Tree ( second lender) asked for 5% of the amount the first lender in going to net to review the file now after file has been review the investor came back asking for $25,000. CLICK HERE TO SEE WHAT OUR SHORT SALE PROFESSIONALS CAME UP WITH

Maybe you're new to Short Sales and need affordable Short Sale Agent Training?

• It’s time for you to get the expertise you need, because short sales are becoming extremely common. You don’t want to be caught feeling unsure when a client asks for one.That’s why we offer you three different training solutions.

Folks, 2010 is going to be the year of the Short Sale. It's up to us to help as many folks as we can to avoid foreclosure. Please take advantage of all of the tools that we are making available to you at www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com. We now have almost 2,000 members and our site is THE place for all things Short Sales. Come join us. OK?

Do NOT be foreclosed on! Avoid foreclosure. Short Sales DO close.

Want to find out more? www.CentralFloridaShortSales.com

***I am NOT an Attorney nor do I play one on TV. Click the button below for my Bio.

Copyright © 2010 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

I have a Short Sale with Bank of America that I have been working on for a very long time. In fact we are on our 4th Buyer. This Buyer has been under contract since August and has been very patient. I won't bore you with the details but just suffice it to say that today was the day I needed to get some answers. So I fired off this email to a whole bunch of people in high places.

To who it may concern,

Bank of America's lack of response to this short sale is disheartening to say the least. My seller has been jumping through hoops for over a year trying to work something out with your bank. We now have the FOURTH buyer that is willing and able to close on this property at market value yet your bank has now closed the file for "Insufficient offer".

The call center states the file was closed on 4 February even though I have emails from X on the 17th of February stating it was still at the Investors. Was she lying? Or just out of the loop? In fact a new BPO was ordered and done on February 5th.

Back in November I had a long email thread with L who had asked the buyer to raise the contract price from $65,000 to $67,500. They did.  She then asked the seller to contribute $2,700 in cash. He agreed. We thought at this time that we were close to getting an approval. 

The transaction went dead until I heard from L on 12-21-09 telling me the file had been switched over to X

At this time I started trying get an update from X. I was told by her on 2-1-10 that the file was with the investor and had been submitted on 1-8-10. I was again told by her on 2-17-10 that it was still with the investor.

On 3-5-10 the call center told me the file was approved by Freddie Mac on 3-3-10 and that I should be getting the letter at any time. I called back in on 3-09-10 and was told the file was closed. Since then I have sent numerous emails to X and a couple of emails to her supervisor and have not received a response from either. I have also left several messages on X's voice mail that have not  been returned.

Today I am filing a complaint with the OCC and the BBB. Of course I'm sure you have a very long list of complaints so one more probably means nothing to you. 

I have been working short sales for several years and understand the frustrations on all sides of the transaction. What I don't understand is the complete lack of communication on this file. If you are not going to approve the short sale then tell us so. Ignoring us is just wasting our time.

I am the co-owner and founder of a network of Short Sale agents throughout the country called www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com  From what I have read on our site, agents and consumers everywhere are pissed off with your complete incompetence. But that's an issue for a media interview and has nothing to do with this email.

So back on topic. What can I do to HELP you get this file approved and off your desk? THE END

I received a response in 15 minutes and should have my approval tomorrow. Life is good. If you are facing foreclsoure please give ma a call. I may be bale to help.

 

Do NOT be foreclosed on! Avoid foreclosure. Short Sales DO close.

Want to find out more? www.CentralFloridaShortSales.com

***I am NOT an Attorney nor do I play one on TV. Click the button below for my Bio.

Copyright © 2010 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

 

Did you know that? I didn't. Until I read this article by Sally K. & David L. Hanson.

This is pretty serious stuff. If you are working with Short Sales please be sure to notify your Sellers and give them this information. I am not an Attorney nor do I play one on TV so I do not know the legalities of this. I do know though, that if it were me, I'd much rather avoid the issue all together and pull my money out of the bank that I have my delinquent mortgage with. Better safe than sorry.

If you read the comments to Sally and David's post you will see that this IS happening. And it's happening all over.

And of course....Bank of America is one of the culprits.

Be a Short Sale Superstar to your Sellers and make them aware of this situation today. OK?

Do NOT be foreclosed on! Avoid foreclosure. Short Sales DO close.

Want to find out more? www.CentralFloridaShortSales.com

Copyright © 2010 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

Hi folks. As you know we just had our 1st contest at www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com. You can read about it here.

We made a couple of changes as we went along. Hey...we own the site and can do what we want :) The first change we made was Wendy and I asked our site moderator, Jeff Payne, to help with the judging. Jeff's a great guy and he's cheap labor so we took advantage of him. Thanks Jeff!!!

Secondly, we upped the ante with the prizes. We, as in Wendy and I, decided that since there were so many great entries, 16 to be exact, that ALL should be rewarded. We'll tell you shortly what we decided to do. But first.....

....here are the 3 winners:

• 1st place goes to Stephanie Jarmon for "Why I help Kansas City homeowners negotiate Short Sales--and how they could go better..." Stephanie's article is about FEAR and how it affects homeowners' decision making or lack of. Her goal is to empower these folks with knowledge. She also has some excellent ideas on how lenders could make the process easier.

• 2nd place goes to Katerina Gasset for "Why Do We do Short Sales". WOW! Is all I can say about this one. A heart breaking look at what Short Sale agents deal with on a daily basis. Katerina's post reminds us that we are dealing with real people with real hardships. Her post is exactly why www.ShortSaleSuperstars.com exist. To help people.

• 3rd place goes to Ray Saenz for "What can be done to help make the Short Sale process run smoother?" Ray's article is a comprehensive outline to assist agents with handling the short sale process. I can tell he spent a lot of time and effort on his entry. Thank you Ray.

Pop over and read all of the entries. They are all very good. 

OK...back to the prizes. We have decided to give all 3 of the top place winners the Short Sale Agent Training Webinar. Plus.....ALL 16 contestants will receive The Negotiator Interview as our way of saying thanks for entering the contest. Stephanie Jarmon also gets to pick the ShortSaleSuperStars Tee Shirt of her choice for taking first place.

That's it!! Our first contest comes to a close. A sincere thank you from Wendy and I for all who participated. And a big thanks to Jeff for helping with the judging.

Until next time.....Learn, Know and Grow.

Together we CAN make a difference!

And if you missed out on the contest but still want your Short Sale Agent Training.....we won't get mad if you just go ahead and make a purchase!

Available Short Sale Agent Training:

• The Negotiator Interview $27.00
  
• www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com FREE 825+ Members Strong!!
  
• Short Sale Agent Training Webinars 8 Hours of training and materials for $97.00
• Short Sale Listing/Submission Package $27.00 Click for details

Wendy Rulnick and Bryant Tutas
www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com

Copyright © 2010 REGrow, LLC | All Rights Reserved

Hi folks. When I first realized that Short Sales were going to be a major part of my market I knew I needed to learn how to do them and I needed to learn how to do them fast. So I did what any Short Sale rookie would do...I decided to write a book on how to do Short Sales!! I read and studied everything I could get my hands on. I started listing Short Sales and started going through the process. I found out real quick that what I thought I knew.....was not enough.

But instead of throwing in the towel I made another decision. I sent Wendy Rulnick an email and asked her if she wanted to help me finish writing a book about Short Sales. Much to my surprise she agreed!! I now had someone that had done tons of Short Sales to learn from. Then I made another great decision. I asked Wendy if she wanted to do a Short Sale Agent Training webinar series and teach agents how to do Short Sales. Again she agreed!

I did this because I really wanted to help others become better at doing Short Sales. But most importantly....I did it to learn. I spent weeks picking Wendy's brain while we prepared to launch our training webinars. I was learning Short Sales as I was preparing to teach Short Sales. Sounds backwards doesn't it? It is. But it worked for me. I became very good at Short Sales in a very short period of time.

Then we took it a step further and launched www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com. Now I am the co-founder of the hottest Short Sale network on the internet and have become known as a go to guy for Short Sales.

In less than a year I revamped my entire buisness and became an "expert" at something I had very litttle hands on experience with. I envisioned what I wanted to become and I became it. 

I evolved. Have you?

Do NOT be foreclosed on! Avoid foreclosure. Short Sales DO close.

Want to find out more? www.CentralFloridaShortSales.com

Copyright © 2010 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

Let's start with the prizes first.

• First place prize will be the complete Short Sale Agent Training Webinar taught by Wendy and I. This training consist of 5 MP3s with almost 8 hours of training that walks you through a Short Sale Transaction from beginning to end. We'll also include the Short Sale Listing Package. VALUE: $124.00 

• Second place prize is The Negotiator Interview. This is an MP3 of Wendy and I interviewing a Short Sale Negotiator from one of the major lenders. "Craig" has been handling short sales for 18 years and spends 90 minutes answering questions from Wendy and I about the Short Sale process and what the lenders are looking for. We'll also throw in a Short Sale Superstars Tee Shirt VALUE: $60.00 

• Third place prize is.........a set of steak knives VALUE: Not much

The contest:

Write an article answering one of these two questions.

• What can be done to help make the Short Sale process run smoother?

• Why do you want to do Short Sales?
  

Top three articles, as judged by Wendy and I, win. Entries have to be submitted no later than midnight eastern time Thursday January 7th. The winners will be published by Monday the 11th.

"So, Broker Bryant, how do we enter?" Good question.

• You have to join http://ShortSaleSuperStars.com  Don't worry...It's free. Just click on the link and answer a few questions and you are in.

• Write your article. The article must be posted on the ShortSaleSuperStars site as a blog post. "tag" it contest.
  

• Link to this article in your blog post.

• Come back here (My ActiveRain blog) and link to your blog post in the comment section of this post.
  

That's it!!! If you have any questions you can email me direct at BrokerBryant@gmail.com and I'll get you squared away.

And if you can't wait to get your Short Sale Agent Training.....we won't get mad if you just go ahead and make a purchase!

Available Short Sale Agent Training:

• The Negotiator Interview $27.00
  
• www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com FREE
• Short Sale Agent Training Webinars 8 Hours of training and materials for $97.00
• Short Sale Listing/Submission Package $27.00 Click for details

Wendy Rulnick and Bryant Tutas
www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com

Copyright © 2009 REGrow, LLC | All Rights Reserved

Go check the new layout and look for ShortSaleSuperStars. There is one slight problem though........I didn't ask Wendy and she hasn't seen it!!! This look could be very temporary.

So.....am I going to be in trouble? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Anyway....here are my thoughts.

• The site needed to have a cleaner look.

• Wendy and I had talked about getting our "product pitches" off the front page. So I moved the pitches and replaced them with buttons and a "Short Sale Training" tab. We will also be adding a "SuperStar Store" tab that will have tee shirts, mugs and other ShortSaleSuperStar goodies.

• The wording on and the position of the tabs were changed. It looks more like a news site (I think).

• The profile questions have been changed. The change was made to make it easier to "Find An Agent"

• Blog posts now have a new tab "Short Sale News" and the forums are under "Q&A".

• The tab for groups was changed to "Lender Info".

• We added an "Agent Referral Map"

These changes were designed to make the site more consumer friendly. We want potential Sellers and Buyers to be able to find us and be able to navigate the site with ease.

So what do you think? Wendy.....do you still love me or am I in trouble. I can fix it I promise.

Please pop over and give us your feedback.

Bryant Tutas
Broker/Owner
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker
http://CentralFloridaShortSales.com

http://ShortSaleSuperStars.com

Are you a Florida REALTOR(R) looking for a change? Check it out.

CENTRAL FLORIDA REALTOR(r) OPPORTUNITIES

Copyright © 2009 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved