Anyone involved in real estate in today’s market has come across the opportunity to represent either a buyer or a seller looking to purchase or list a distressed property. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) released a statement a couple of weeks ago saying that nearly one-third of all home sales over the past few months involved a foreclosure or a short sale. First American Core Logic reports more than 15.2 million U.S. mortgages, or 32.2 percent of all mortgaged properties, were in negative equity position as of June 30, 2009.

The demand for real estate agents with experience handling distressed property transactions is impossible to ignore. Thousands of agents are doing their best to become better educated on foreclosures and short sales by seeking distressed property certification programs, NAR sponsored designations, and short sale processors to handle a higher volume of listings. Most of the programs I have investigated provide excellent value and will increase your relevance as a reliable source of information in your respective community.

BGS3 has received an overwhelming response over the past few weeks from real estate agents registering for webinars on “How to Expedite Short Sales.” The webinar is a five-part series presented free of charge to all attendees by Program 3648. Program 3648 is a nationwide initiative created by BGS3 last year to inform homeowners of their rights and options when facing foreclosure. The first 15 minutes of each presentation is purely educational, while the last 45 minutes of each forum is dedicated to answering each attendee’s specific short sale questions.

The first few weeks of presentations showed signs that real estate agents working with distressed properties are thirsty for knowledge. The webinar is designed to create an outlet for agents who need information; plug in, receive information. If you are interested in attending the presentations, please send a request to blog@bgs3.com to have registration information sent your way. Agents from all disciplines, certifications and designations are welcome.