Home Financing Ninja

HFN TV - Weekly Tip for Realtors and other Sales People: Fishing With Gulps

This week Scotty from Marketing gives you a great tip about catching a lot of fish and getting back into a home after a foreclosure.  Click on the picture to watch the video to find out more.

To get this video to email out to your client how is looking for a home to buy, or has gone thru a short sale, all you have to do is ask, comment below or go here.  Having the video sent on your behalf to your clients is a free , selfless service.  Please use it

The Results of Optimizing Your Active Rain Profile

In my previous article, I wrote about the importance of optimizing your Active Rain Profile.  This was targeted at the new members of active rain, but the more I look, there are many Rainmakers who should do the same thing in order to get optimal results.

So lets talk about the effects of this

Example 1: Phil Caufield

Do a Google Search for Phil, another Active Rain approved trainer like myself.  He is number 1, 6, 7, and 9 on Google with a "reccommended search" at the bottom

Now, Google Search "Jumbo Loans, Burlingame, California".  His content is at position 1 thru 5, number 7 and number 11

As you can see by his profile, he has the term "Jumbo Loans" and "FHA Loans" and "Pre-Approval" - All cities except San Fran (Address Line 1 and 2) which again, proves that smaller is better

Example 2: Steven L Smith

He has the terms "Home Inspector" and "Home Inspections": Located in All Cities (again, address lines 1/2) and even the ZIP CODE (did you notice that)

Talk about profile power - Notice the Local Business Results and the results for His Website -- King of the House

Has this helped you to see the light.  Do you like this level of customer service from Active Rain

Then take the plunge - How to Join Active Rain for $1.00 for the first thirty days

Log into your free account - Then Click on the coupon

Have you found this helpful -- Then imagine what I can do for you as a loan originator or a property marketing animal.  I am here to help you win more listings, sell more homes, finance your clients to make YOU the expert in your area and a part of a high functioning team.

Who's Your Pal

Chuck Ward
Program Manager, Realtor Coach and Mentor

Florida Home Benefits/Proficio Mortgage Ventures

New Members: Why You Should Optimize Your Active Rain Profile for Better SEO Results

Lately, I have been getting out of my comfortable office chair and pushing myself into areas outside my comfort level. 

I have been making it a part of my list to call at least two new members from Active Rain on a daily basis.  This person suggested it in her blog a few months ago.  Since I have moved into a new (bank) office that allows me to work for agents in 48 states (48 is more than one), I can now go outside of Florida to help other professionals. 

What do I do when I talk to someone.  You see, most members are not Rainmakers.  So they have the free account that allows them to only post to other members.  The first thing that I review is their profile page.  I would estimate that of the profiles I have reviewed, less than 5% are optimized for Google, Bing, and the other search engines

So Let The Class Begin

Active Rain Profile Page Optimization 101

GOALS:
By the end of this class, you will know how to optimize your profile page on Active Rain
By the end of this class, you will know why that is important
By the end of this class, you will understand why you should become a Rainmaker
By the end of this class, you will learn how to become a Rainmaker for $1 for the First 30 Days (for those of you on the fence)

Where is that Profile Page at anyways.  Do you see the Blue bar running across the length of your screen at the top?  Look at the right corner -- See "My Home" in white.  Click on that button

What now.  There are a lot of places to click.  Do you see on the right side, 3rd Block down, "My Profile (Edit) -- Click There, (please)

Good Job, Grasshopper! You have now successfully negotiated the challenge of locating and manuvering to your Active Rain Profile.  Here you can upload an HD Picture (for more points) and create your own unqiue customized, optimized Active Rain Profile

SEO Techniques

Step One:
Add one or two key phrases after your name.  These terms must be very specific.  These can be location (geographically) specific or title specific.  For example -- "Short Sale Specialist" or "FHA Loans in Tampa, Florida." Get the idea?  Your typical "Homes for Sale" just won't cut it, after all everyone else is doing that.  But "Luxury Multi Family Homes under $200k in Bergen County New Jersey"

Step Two:
Lather, Rinse, and Repeat Step One, but this time do it in the "Company Name" Field

Step Three:
Most common mistake is what to put into "Address Lines 1 and 2".  (Hint: It is NOT your address that you want!) Instead of actual company location, insert your market area.  Bigger is NOT better here.  Instead of the cities or metropolises, do Suburbs, Communities.  Instead of Florida or Tampa, I should have Temple Terrace, Easton Park, Hunter's Green, Riverview, etc.  Make sure that you seperate each with a comma.  Again - Lather, Rinse, Repeat one address line #2 for shinier results!!

Step Four:
You now see three larger form fields.  This is where the bulk of your information about you is going to be at.

But Chuck, I don't know what to say?  No problem -- Use this model - WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY - Essentially -- Who the heck are YOU.

• WHO are you
• WHAT  do you specialize in?  What niche product or market
• WHERE do you offer your services at? Remember, geographically specific is good
• WHY do you do what you do?  (That's all you, cause I am not inside your mind, not yet at least)
• REFER BACK TO STEP One Thru Three: Repeat Key terms from the key phrases your added in your name and company name.  Repeat also locations from step three
• Make those Key Phrases Stand Out:  Make those phrases stand out by either bolding, underlining or italics.  If you add images, put those key phrases in the title.
• Linking: Second Most Common Mistake (I think this is the NUMBER ONE BIGGEST MISTAKE.  Employ proper search term anchoring.  What is that you ask - Find a phrase that people search on.  Again, specificity is best here.  NEVER, NEVER, EVER, NEVER (ie - don't do it) make a link of "click here" or "email now".  Make a link with the phrase of "Luxury Homes for Sale in Tampa, Florida - Hunters Green" (See Below for an imaged example)

Rinse, Lather, Repeat, Rinse, Repeat Again: For a Flake Free, Shiny Profile and Blog - Repeat once per week (minimum) by adding new content and incorporate terms into those articles (blogs).  Not sure what to say, Talk about Listings, Programs, Industry News, Community Events -- Still Not sure what to see - Here are 101 things to talk about.  My point is, everything you do (or don't do) will have a consequence - Optimization of Your Profile without additional content pointing back at it, will do nothing for you. 

The more often you talk about the same subject (and associated keyowrds) the more times you take someone else place on page one of google!

Check out the Continuation to See the Results of Optimizing Your Active Rain Profile

BIG BANKS ACCUSED OF SHORT SALE FRAUD

This article was reprinted from FB who got it from a CNBC report -- Very interesting reading.  If you are an agent and you're doing this or asked to do it -- THINK TWICE.  And remember, tape recorded conversations go along ways -- Anyways , happy reading

REPRINTED FROM CNBC

Just as regulators, lawmakers and all forms of financial oversight boards are talking about new regulations to guard against mortgage fraud and another mortgage meltdown, there appears to be yet a new mortgage fraud out there today, allegedly perpetuated by agents of, yes, the big banks.

I was first alerted to this by Jeremy Brandt, the CEO of several companies that bring short sale agents, investors and sellers together.

His companies include 1800CashOffer, HomeFlux.com and FastHomeOffer.com. Brandt has a huge network of short sale real estate agents, and over the past several months he's been receiving all kinds of questions and complaints about trouble with second lien holders.

As we all know, during the housing boom, millions of Americans pulled cash out of their homes in the form of home equity loans and lines of credit. They also used "piggy back" loans in order to get even lower interest rates on their primary mortgages. Now, many of the borrowers in trouble, and many who are so far underwater on their loans that they don't qualify for any refi or modification, are choosing short sales as a way out. (Short sales are when the lender allows the home to be sold for less than the value of the loan). About 12 percent of all home sales by the end of 2009 were short sales, according to the National Association of Realtors.

In order for a short sale with two loans to happen, the second lien holder has to drop the lien.

If they don't, and there's no short sale, the home goes to foreclosure and the first lien holder gets the house because second liens are subordinated debt to the primary loan.

In short, the second lien holder gets nothing. In order to get the second lien holder to drop the lien, the first lien holder generally negotiates some partial payment to the second lien holder. The second lien holder doesn't have to agree, but more and more are doing so.

That's all legal.

But here's what's not legal and what's apparently happening quite often recently. Since many second lien holders are getting very little, they are now allegedly requesting money on the side from either real estate agents or the buyers in the short sale. When I say "on the side," I mean in cash, off the HUD settlement statements, so the first lien holder doesn't see it.

"They are pretty clear and pretty upfront about the fact that if the first lender knows they are getting paid, the first lender will kill the short sale," says Brandt. "So these second lenders are asking for the payments off the closing documents, off the HUD statement, usually in a cashiers check prior to closing. Once they receive that payment, they will allow the short sale to go through, which according to RESPA laws and the lawyers that we have spoken to on the topic is not legal."

(RESPA is the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the 2008 law requiring that consumers receive disclosures at various times in the transaction. It outlaws kickbacks that increase the cost of settlement services. RESPA is a HUD consumer protection statute designed to help homebuyers be better shoppers in the home buying process, and is enforced by HUD. Read more about it here.).

I told RESPA specialist Brian Sullivan over at HUD about all this and he replied, "That's a red flag!"

Clearly illegal.

Brandt told me he's heard from at least 200 agents that they've had these requests made by representatives of Citi Mortgage [C 3.42 -0.09 (-2.56%) ], JP Morgan Chase [JPM 43.68 -1.01 (-2.26%) ], Bank of America [BAC 16.26 -0.56 (-3.33%) ] and other large banks.

Most agents wouldn't go on the record with me, for fear of retribution by the banks with whom they have to work every day. But one agent, Kayte Gentry, of Keller Williams Integrity First Realty, was brave enough to blow the whistle.

"I think it's wrong, and I think somebody needs to hold them accountable, and every time I lose a house in foreclosure because of this, it hurts my client," says Gentry matter-of-factly. "Aside from being illegal and a violation of RESPA, it's immoral and truly it's just sad for the client that it's hurting."

Gentry says she has had the requests made three times and claims she lost one sale because of it.

"The big banks that have recently made this request, specifically payments outside of the closing statement have been Citi Mortgage and JP Morgan Chase."

JP Morgan Chase simply answered, "No Comment," when I relayed the charge to their media representative.

Bank of America denied the practice to CNBC in a written statement:

"Bank of America enforces a policy that all disbursements are documented on the settlement statement for short sales. When we are servicing a first mortgage with a second lien held by another investor, if the second lien holder asks for off-HUD payments, we will not approve the transaction (if we have knowledge of it). It is also against Bank of America's policy to accept off-HUD payments on its second liens."

Citi 's reply was a bit more complicated:

"We work very hard to help distressed homeowners find solutions for their financial challenges. In our attempt to amicably resolve the debt, we will generally negotiate a reduced settlement with the homeowner in order to release a second lien. Unlike some lenders who refuse to reduce the payoffs on second liens, we choose to reduce the payoff amounts in some situations to assist the borrower. We do not provide instructions to settlement agents on how to fill out the settlement statement or any other closing documents, and we certainly do not require settlement agents or any other parties to violate applicable laws."

"When we confront the lenders and tell them that this request is illegal and a violation of RESPA, they tell us it's been cleared through legal and they don't care. Do it anyway," charges Gentry.

I personally heard a recording of a phone conversation between a short sale real estate agent and a second lien lender, during which the second lien lender clearly asked for cash outside of the settlement and threatened to kill the deal without it.

The real estate agent was rightly concerned and reluctant (the recording was given to me by Brandt who got it from the agent. The agent would provide no information on the lender, for fear of retribution):

AGENT: Well yes, I don't want to lose my license, go to jail, I mean, I have to sign...

LENDER: You're not going to lose your license - we have plenty of realtors who do this, who actually understand how this whole process goes - and they realize that OK, if I want to get this done, this will take place."

I contacted the Treasury Department, HUD, FINCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) and the Federal Trade Commission, and none of their representatives could tell me of any active investigation into this. The folks at HUD said they'd be very interested to see my story.