Welcome to RealClues The Weekly Newsletter for Real Estate Professionals www.RealEstateCoach.com–The Place You Go to Make Real Estate Dough!(tm) Monday, January 5, 2009 No. 357

Copyright (c) 1996-2009 www.RealEstateCoach.com and Teleclass4U.com, LLC. All rights in all media reserved. We have a no SPAM policy. If you received this newsletter and did not subscribe to it, visit www.RealEstateCoach.com to unsubscribe.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Are you a female manager, owner broker, or executive in the real estate brokerage business or for a company that provides services to real estate professionals? If so, there is a very special, by-invitation-only conference coming up from March 25-27, 2009 in Savannah, Georgia for women in leadership positions in the real estate industry. I have a limited number of invitations to this event. Please email me at Bernice@RealEstateCoach.com for more information.

Table of Contents 1. CoachingClues: Hope Now for Foreclosures 2. Welcome Notes: The #1 Skill You Need to Shine in 2009 3. Reprise: Powerful Questions: The Key to More Profit in Your Real Estate Business 4. Create a Better Life: Dirty Little Secrets of Business Planning (Part 1 of 2) 5. Positive News for Positive Realtors(reg): Are We Heading Out of the Downturn? 6. This Week at www.LuxuryClues.com: *Reach millions of international buyers and sellers by publishing your listings in 13 different languages for only $6.99 per listing! *Wooden slacks and wooden underwear–for real! 7. Featured Products: Give Yourself the Real Estate Gift that Gives You Back Thousands 8. New at www.ListenandLearnRealEstate.com for January 1-15, 2009 *Seven Ways to Build Your Real Estate Success Now *How to Get Top Real Estate Ranking on Google in 2009 *Time Efficiency Tips *Sleep Your Way to Weight Loss (Simple Ways to Peel Away Those Pounds) 9. Increase Your Production with Personal Coaching 10. Give Us Your Feedback on this Newsletter 11. How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe

1. CoachingClues: Hope Now for Foreclosures Many people are predicting that 2009 will be even worse than 2008 in terms of foreclosures. The real issue is not how many people end up facing foreclosure, but how many work out their issues and are able to stay in their homes.

While the headlines continue to highlight an increasing number of foreclosure filings plus substantial price declines in many markets, Hope Now just released a fascinating report outlining how many people they have helped stay in their homes. Hope Now is a “private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, counselors, and investors that has been working aggressively to prevent foreclosures and keep homeowners in their homes.” In their December 22, 2008 report, Hope Now projected that they will have prevented approximately 2.2 million foreclosures and modified almost 950,000 mortgages during 2008.

The success of Hope Now is continuing to grow. During September, October, and November of 2008, Hope Now reported that they prevented 651,000 foreclosures, the highest three-month total since they began compiling data in July 2007.

During September and October of 2008, Realty Trac reported a total of 545,529 total properties with new foreclosure filings. (Realty Trac has not yet reported their November numbers.) By taking 67 percent of the Hope Now numbers from September, October, and November, approximately 434,217 owners worked out their mortgage issues in September and October of 2008 as compared to a total of 545,529 properties that Realty Trac reported as receiving a foreclosure notice. In other words, Hope Now worked out approximately 79 percent of the foreclosures during this period. While this is not an exact apples-to-apples comparison, it suggests that many of the people facing foreclosure are having success finding solutions to their challenges. Looking ahead to 2009, Hope Now expects to double the number of modifications due to streamlining their processes with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA, as well being able to work with consumers who have secondary financing.

What’s particularly disturbing, however, is a recent report from the Comptroller of the Currency that showed 37 percent of the mortgages that were modified during the first quarter of 2008 are now more than 60 days delinquent. According to John Dugan who oversaw the production of the report, those rates are continuing to climb as more worked out mortgages are going back into default.

What does all of this mean for your business in 2009? First, many agents have experienced great success by helping those in foreclosure to stay in their homes. A simple way to begin this process is to send out a mailing piece that asks, “Do you know someone who is facing foreclosure? If so, please contact me at 555-1212 about options available that may stop their foreclosure and allow them to stay in their home.” Be sure to identify yourself as a REALTOR(reg) and not someone trying to sell them a mortgage product.

When you receive a response, the first step is to determine whether they will qualify for a loan modification or other assistance from Hope Now.

When borrowers have tried to work with their lender and have had no success, another approach is to contact a loss mitigation company. Most borrowers attempt to work out their mortgage difficulties through normal customer service channels. The result is that they often have a hard time reaching the appropriate decision makers. In contrast, loss mitigation companies typically have direct access to the decision makers and can often expedite the process.

A different approach is to see if the owners qualify for one of the equity sharing programs offered through FHA or other lending institutions. In this model, the lending institution reappraises the property and issues a new loan at 80 to 90 percent of the appraised valuation. In the case where there is a $300,000 loan and the property is now worth $200,000 they would issue a new loan of $160,000 to $180,000. The borrowers must agree, however, to share 50 percent of their equity when they sell.

A more aggressive approach is to contact a consumer attorney (not a real estate attorney) through an organization such as NACA.net. Virtually all loan documents have errors or other provisions that will make it extremely difficult for the lender to foreclose. For example, if a loan has been sold several times, the company servicing the loan may not be legally eligible to conduct the foreclosure. A consumer attorney who specializes in foreclosures can assist borrowers in gaining leverage to renegotiate or modify their loan.

Ultimately, our goal as real estate professionals must first be to assist people in staying in their homes. When that is not possible, then our role is to assist our clients in going through the process as easily and as painlessly as possible. The good will you will create by helping people stay in their homes is one of the best ways to improve your business reputation and to attract grateful clients for years to come.

2. Welcome Notes Welcome to our new subscribers this week. Each week RealClues provides you with great strategies to improve both your business and your life. If you find this issue of RealClues helpful, take a moment to hit the “forward” button and send it to another friend in the business.

What’s the #1 Skill you need to shine in 2009? It’s not presenting, it’s not social networking, and it’s not promotion. The most important skill in your toolbox for 2009 is negotiation. Sadly, agents today have few opportunities to learn the art of negotiation unless they have plenty of listings and buyers. In fact, most agents only practice negotiation when they are face-to-face with a client. If you would like to improve your negotiation skills and have lots of fun doing it, you need a copy of our exciting new Negotiation game–Real Estate Dough(tm) Negotiation. The game teaches you business planning–is a big deal actually worth more than a bunch of little deals, how to niche your business, how to conduct 1031 Exchanges, as well as reinforcing a skill that most agents don’t use as often as they could–making referrals to out-of-the-area agents. Best of all, you can play it with your kids age 10 and up, or have a Real Estate Dough play night with friends or other agents. If you’re like most of our customers, you’ll be so hooked that you will play for fun every chance you get. And while you’re having fun, you’ll be practicing face-to-face negotiation, so that when you are in front of your clients, your negotiation skills will shine! To see a power point on how to play, click on the link below (allow several minutes for the file to load–it’s a flash file and takes extra time).

Have a Happy New Year and Make lots of Real Estate Dough in 2009!

Bernice Ross and Byron Van Arsdale, Chief Dough Makers www.RealEstateCoach.com, www.RealEstateDough.com, www.LuxuryClues.com, www.RossdalePress.com, www.ConferenceCallTraining.com, and www.TeleconferenceLine.com

3. Reprise: Powerful Questions: the Key to More Profit Closing is about asking powerful questions, not forcing people to list or sell. This article first ran in 2003 and is an excellent model for helping you to ask the questions that will let you close more business. http://budurl.com/u6t8

4. Create a Better Life: Dirty Little Secrets of Business Planning (Part 1 of 2) Experts agree that agents need a plan to run a successful business. Speakers and writers hound us about setting goals, meeting production quotas, and how important it is to “do the numbers.” While there are hundreds of formats for a great business plan, no one really addresses what stops agents from creating a plan in the first place. To learn the most important secret about business planning, click on the link below.

http://budurl.com/jult

5. Positive News for Positive Realtors(reg) Discover how easy it is to find out what’s right about the real estate business! Interest rates are down, affordability is up, and Arizona, California, Florida, and Nebraska are leading the way out of the downturn. Click on the link below to learn what’s right about the real estate market.

http://budurl.com/sk5r

(If this is your first visit, don’t miss our first Positive News that is just as appropriate today as it was a year ago! Just click and listen–it’s that easy!)

http://budurl.com/2mae

6. LuxuryClues.com Publish your listings in 13 different languages for only $6.99 per listing! http://budurl.com/fjp5

Wooden pants and wooden underwear–this is for real! Better yet ladies, you may drop two dress sizes! http://budurl.com/bpkg

7. Featured Products: Give Yourself the Real Estate Gift that Gives You Back Thousands For only $69.95, you can order the 82 scripts from Waging War on Real Estate’s Discounters. If you already own the book, the audio CD script set is the best way to master the principles in the book and integrate the scripts into your presentations. If you’re still caving in to sellers’ demands to reduce your commission, stop throwing away thousands of dollars and order today!

http://budurl.com/f9nm

And if you haven’t ordered my new book, Real Estate Dough, Your Recipe for Success, it provides you with everything you need to convert 90 percent of your listing appointments into signed business and to persuade your buyers to work with you exclusively. You deserve more dough in 2009–order today, to sky rocket your real estate business to the top tomorrow.

http://budurl.com/8yt2

8. What’s New at ListenandLearnRealEstate.com WHAT’S NEW AT ListenandLearnRealEstate.com for January 1-15, 2009. ($29.95 per month for eight new audio broadcasts every month) Our library now has over 130 titles–check out all of them by purchasing a one month membership for only $29.95 or stay for eight more titles every single month.)

*Seven Ways to Build Your Real Estate Success Now Real estate agents are struggling to succeed in today’s highly competitive market. This session gives you proven tips to get your business running strong in any market.

*How to Get Top Real Estate Ranking on Google in 2009 Google changes their algorithms all the time. A new change in early 2009, will change the way rankings are handled forever. Learn what you need to do to come up on top of the real estate searches for your area.

*Time Efficiency Tips Tired of working so many hours per week in your real estate business? Want more time for you? You can create more fun time in your schedule by making a few minor adjustments in how you accomplish certain tasks. This session reveals the secrets of how to have more time for you.

*Sleep Your Way to Weight Loss (Simple Ways to Peel Away Those Pounds) No kidding–lack of sleep can cause you to gain weight. This session includes three easy ways to drop those extra pounds painlessly. It also includes some of my favorite suggestions for giving your brain the food it needs and still keeping it healthy.

9. Increase Your Production with Personal Coaching Looking for a well-trained coach who knows the real estate business? Our coaching team can help you increase your production and make your dreams come true. Send an e-mail to Shane@RealEstateCoach.com and we’ll help find the right coach for you.

10. Give Us Your Feedback On This Newsletter We want your feedback-to share your thoughts and suggestions, please e-mail us at Shane@RealEstateCoach.com.

11. How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe Visit our Web site, http://www.RealEstateCoach.com to subscribe/unsubscribe to RealClues.

Copyright (c) 1996-2008, RealEstateCoach.com and Teleclass4U.com, LLC. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce, copy, or distribute RealClues as long as this copyright notice and full information about contacting the contributors to this newsletter is attached.

Contributors to this newsletter: Bernice Ross, MCC, and Byron Van Arsdale, MCC, Owners, www.RealEstateCoach.com, www.LuxuryClues.com, www.ConferenceCallTraining.com; www.RossdalePress.com; and www.TeleconferenceLine.com Shane Bowlin, REC General Manager

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