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I am trying to put together as much information from as many sources about "Farming Expired Listings".

• Do you gather them every day
• Is sending letters the best contact,
• Besides my strong desire to help the sellers what else should I include in this first contact, what would be the incentive for them to pick up the phone and call me,
• I'm thinking the follow-up should be at least 3 times.
• MLS would be the obvious sorce for all the information on each seller and the property in question, but what is the quickest way to accumulate,
• Yes, I know there are books but they give you sparce information don't seem to hit the subject dead on?

Thank you for your input, is there anything that I may do for you?

Good morning Hector:

I am a commercial mortgage lender and trainer, and would love to become an expert in this area. I write a blog at http://commercialmortgagehotline.blogspot.com , and will sometimes post entries on RealTown. It covers product training, industry trends, marketing ideas, etc.

What is the best way to become an expert.? Thanks.

Mike

One of the first things to do when working with an expired listing is to realize what the consumer is thinking. They are expired because they did not wish to renew with their past broker, or they haven't listed yet with a new broker, or they no longer want to sell. When you make the first call say something like this: "Mr. and Mrs. X, I see your home is no longer listed in the MLS. May I ask, are you still interested in selling your home?" If they say yes, and then say they're not listing again with another real estate agent, say something like this: "I understand how you feel. May I ask why you think your home didn't sell?" They'll probably blame the agent and the whole real estate business. Then they'll say somewhere in the answer "the agent said my home is over-priced." You may want to respond right away, but the best answer (IMO) is to say something like this: "well, that may or may not be true Mr. X, but price is only one of 8 reasons why a home sells. Did you agent talk to you about the other 7? (They'll probably say no). If you have a few minutes would you allow me to visit your home and explain to you the other 7?" At that point, they'll probably be curious. You should continue: "You see, I specialize in representing sellers whose home didn't sell but should have. May I come over now or would this evening be better?" Of course, we all know the 8 reasons a home sells, don't we?

1. Price
2. condition
3. location
4. terms
5. availability
6. notariety
7. agent and company
8. marketplace

It will be you job to go over them with the owners and explain how their home fits with each of them, e.g., was the home always allowed to be shown (no.5); did everyone in the world know the home was for sale (no.6), i.e., internet, sign, mls, open house, etc.? You can see where I'm going with this. Now, at the end, don't forget to close. "Based upon what I've shown you, my specialty in working with homes that should have sold, the kind of marketing that I and my company does, do you think you could trust me to represent you in marketing your home?"

Good luck.

I have a listing in which the sellers have filed Bkruptcy this week. I have been told by their attorney (through the sellers), that the signs can stay up and the listing can stay on the MLS through the BK if they want to still want to make payments on the house and still sell it after the BL is final. I also was told by another agent that it must come off the MLS and the signs come down until after the Bk is final. It wasn't a foreclosure issue, but now it seems the sellers are looking at that since they were told by their attorney to just walk away from the property - "it would be the best thing for them since short sales and foreclosures are basically the same" and "so why wait around, ust move". I tried to explain that really wasn't the case and gave them a copy of the CDPE "Homeowners Consequences" Foreclosure vs Short Sale. Anyone have any sound advice on this situation - especially, what should be done with the listing - stay on or come off? Thanks, Terry

Hi,

Wow, I just love this kind of stuff. This is the first time, I, visited this website and really like this one. Please keep updating me one this.

CSK

Great Auto Insurance

I am glad you put price first because all of the others will be determinate on that, price. Nice presentation. Thank you.

Mary Lou Wall - Suburban Homes and Condos, Wethersfield, CT. 06109

MaryLouWall813@sbcglobal.net

working on e-Pro

Quoting Terry Rule-Swett:

I have a listing in which the sellers have filed Bkruptcy this week. I have been told by their attorney (through the sellers), that the signs can stay up and the listing can stay on the MLS through the BK if they want to still want to make payments on the house and still sell it after the BL is final. I also was told by another agent that it must come off the MLS and the signs come down until after the Bk is final. It wasn't a foreclosure issue, but now it seems the sellers are looking at that since they were told by their attorney to just walk away from the property - "it would be the best thing for them since short sales and foreclosures are basically the same" and "so why wait around, ust move". I tried to explain that really wasn't the case and gave them a copy of the CDPE "Homeowners Consequences" Foreclosure vs Short Sale. Anyone have any sound advice on this situation - especially, what should be done with the listing - stay on or come off? Thanks, Terry

Terry,

First off, real estate rules are different in every state, BUT if you have a valid listing agreement whether the house is in BK only buys you more time to sell it.

I am shocked their atty told them to walk off as there is a BIG difference in a foreclosure and a short sale as far as your credit is conserned. A Foreclosure will haunt them for years, a short sale just shows up as a sale (sometimes with a remark of less than owed) but it does not hurt your credit as bad or as long.

My advice to you would be to tell the sellers to get another attorney and if the want to stay in the house, do a mortgage mod, if they don't want to stay in the house - do a short sale.

Hope this helps!

Terry,

There are a lot of options for your Sellers, and walking away is probably not the best. I would think the property could stay on the market, and if a deal is made to sell the property could be released by the Court and sale completed.
The proceeds from the sale might need to go back into the BK so there might be little short-term advantage to selling. Avoiding a FC would allow purchase of a replacement home sooner than a FC.
Without the BK, sometimes an attempt at sale (short sale or otherwise) to avoid FC while living in the house and not making payments, can be the best for the Borrower. It takes a long time to actually loose possession of the home, and all those months of payments can add up to a small fortune for someone in financial trouble. If the FC becomes invertible, might as well come out of it with some cash.
An often overlooked consideration is tax consequence. A short sale can create a negative tax situation -- Tax on the debt reduction. Foreclosure should not produce additional tax liability.

Matt Peters, Albuquerque-Rio Rancho, NM Matt@REALTOR.com
(505) 269-4791 . . . . Your Direct Line to RESULTS
www.IdealNM.com www.Relocation2Albuquerque.com

Hi Matt,

the owners will be through BK the end of April and have actually made plans to move the beginning of May so will be out of the house before a second payment is even missed. The keys are going to the BK attorney (?) but I will have a set. Question is, if it goes to FC, is there anyway to be able to list the home then? I have the listing now but if it doesn't sell after the BK and before the contract runs out (the end of May) will I just be out of luck being about to sell it?

Terry