Short Sale Genius Transforms Real Estate Agents, Morph into 'Family Saving Professionals'
On May 21st, 2009 in San Diego, Ca, Lee Honish will teach his 300th seminar since ending a 20+ year career as a foreclosure asset manager/loss mitigator, working for large mortgage lenders. His unique training turns much of the traditional "short sale strategies" upside down and shows real estate professionals the new way of helping with the nation's glut of homes in foreclosure.
San Diego, California (PRWEB) May 7, 2009
On May 21st, 2009 in San Diego, Ca, Lee Honish will teach his 300th seminar since ending a 20+ year career as a foreclosure asset manager/loss mitigator, working for large mortgage lenders. His unique training turns much of the traditional "short sale strategies" upside down and shows real estate professionals the new way of helping with the nation's glut of homes in foreclosure.
Only 20% of agents are successful at closing a short sale they start, that means 8 out of 10 families that put their trust in an agent will lose their home in a foreclosure. Lee Honish a career asset manager and loss mitigator (http://BeAShortSaleGenius. com (http://BeAShortSaleGenius. com)) says, "saving 20% is deplorable and there is no good reason for it! Agents are smart enough and most are capable, they have just been getting the wrong advice from everyone talking about short sales." Honish knows, he has been a career asset manager for the last 22 years, helping such large banks as GMAC, Homecomings and most recently IndyMac Bank to limit their losses through loss mitigation. "Loan modifications are the best option followed closely by short sale and finally the option nobody wants, foreclosure." Since 2006 Honish has been actively training real estate agents and investors and stopped working for the banks in 2007.
Honish provides a fresh perspective to the industry reminding real estate professionals that they, "have to understand why banks do what they do and work together to solve the problem."
The recent rise in home default rates is contributing to a necessity in the marketplace for qualified professionals to help homeowners in distress and facing foreclosure. First American Core Logic stated that as of the end of December, 8.3 million U. S. mortgages, which equals 20 percent of all properties with a mortgage, were in a negative equity position. Foreclosures actually grew by 30% in February of 2009 from the same time the previous year according to RealtyTrac a foreclosure tracking and data firm. The statistics are startling but the need for relief has not gone unassisted by the federal government. There are programs in place to help both banks and homeowners resolve the issues arising out of defaulting mortgages.
President Bush instituted the Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 to help homeowners that qualify, who go through a short sale, to be exempt from any taxes due caused by the lender's loss associated with a short sale. The key is they have to avoid foreclosure via a short sale to qualify. In February, President Obama unveiled his 'Foreclosure Plan', both are good signs that homeowners in distress are being offered help.
The problem seems arise out of the fact that several homeowners just don't reach out to the helping hand the government and lenders have extended. Intersinc recently reported that a homeowner in foreclosure receives more than 20 pieces of direct mail from their bank before the foreclosure ever happens. That seems like plenty of chances to make deal, so where is the disconnect?
Al Stimer, a successful real estate broker from Florida, said he went through a rough patch in his real estate business in 2007, "I had never been to any other short sale or loss mitigation training. By December of 2008 I had closed 187 short sales and had 200 families in the pipeline, its an easy business for me, I live in Italy part of the year and have my staff working the cases." An uncommon outcome for sure, its all over the media that many agents are struggling in this down market.
Another agent producing unusual success is Patricia Villanueva from Vista, Ca. She helped over 58 families last year, her impact is primarily focused on providing relief to a community often targeted by scammers, the Latino community. "I don't do any marketing, all my clients refer 3 people sometimes more. It can be a hard business at times, people are depressed and embarrassed. I do my best to help them feel at peace and 'hold their hand' in the process. Losing your home is not an easy thing to go through and they deserve help."
The economic indicators do not point toward a speedy recovery of home values, foreclosures are on the rise but with new programs for homeowners and tax relief offered by the government, homeowners have solutions. The key is finding a professional capable of offering better than a 20% success rate to distressed homeowners."It is not as difficult to work with banks as people have led you to believe. Banks want to sell these properties before foreclosure.", says Lee Honish, "Real estate professionals just need to put the right strategy to work for them, so they can be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem."
On May 21st, 2009 Honish will host his 300th event, a milestone as he has only been doing this since 2007. "Most of my life was spent inside the walls of large lending institutions, it is satisfying to provide useful education to a group of professionals in our nation that desperately need to pull together."
For more information about Lee Honish and his online training go to: http://BeAShortSaleGenius. com (http://BeAShortSaleGenius. com).
###
