Seven Ways to Master Social Networking Be authentic. Your profile is the first thing people will see when they visit your page. Be truthful about who you are and what you do. Details are a good thing. Calling yourself a “real estate expert” isn’t as informative as “20 years working with XYZ Reality, specializing in urban condos.” Providing nuggets about your life outside of work (everyone loves to see photos) adds a human element to whom you are, and that builds relationships. Be an observer....

I find that so many Real Estate Agents avoid marketing when it comes to their sphere. And yet statistics show that this can be the greatest source of referrals. Define and Rate your Sphere When is the last time that you took a good look at your sphere? What is the total? What are the categories in that group? Do you have past clients, friends, acquaintances, people you hardly know? Before you do anything else go into your data base and group your sphere in categories. Do you know who in your...

In light of the rising number of property foreclosures in the United States, the government has expanded the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) to include provisions and incentives for servicers to allow short sales or deeds-in-lieu as positive options for eligible homeowners in default who wish to avoid foreclosure. The new program is called Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA). What is the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program? Here are some of its benefits:...

Wikipedia defines a short sale as the following, “A short sale is a sale of real estate in which the sale proceeds fall short of the balance owed on the property’s loan.  It often occurs when a borrower cannot pay the mortgage loan on their property, but the lender decides that selling the property at a moderate loss is better than pressing the borrower. Both parties consent to the short sale process, because it allows them to avoid foreclosure, which involves hefty fees for the bank and...

Short Sale Deficiency Balances: What Are They and How to Avoid Them The Basics When the lender agrees to do a short sale, that means the lender is accepting less than the total amount due on the property. For complete details on this you might want to read my post on “Short Sales 101”. But for our purpose here I am going to assume that you not only know what a short sale is, but that you understand the term. Now I have noticed numerous comments about the possibility of a deficiency balance...