Talk of Town Hall Meeting and Foreclosures

RE/MAX Elite and the Clermont financial group. If you absolutely, positively want to postion yourself to be successful in today's market!



This is a our guest blogger, RE/MAX Founder Dave Liniger

Make the best with what you've got. They've always been good words to live by, but they really make a lot of sense this year. With the housing market what it is, I've been telling agents across the country, there's no choice, you have to work with what you've been given. That was also the theme of our first in a series of RE/MAX Town Hall Meetings, broadcast LIVE, on RE/MAX Satellite Network last week. I hope you tuned in, because it was one of the more popular programs ever shown on RSN. We had so many emails and phone calls we had to extend the show an extra fifteen minutes.You can still download the Town Meeting handout materials on Mainstreet.

Margaret hosted the meeting that included a panel discussion with three leading experts- RE/MAX agents, of course- who talked about taking on short sales, REOs and foreclosures. And these agents really knew the topic well! At the beginning of the meeting, I mentioned that I had recently spoken with a friend who's a builder in Scottsdale. According to him, for every property in foreclosure that is sold or mitigated, two more come on the market. And it doesn't show any sign of letting up in 2008. Out of a projected total of 6 million home sales, well over a million could be foreclosures.

Maybe you've never had any interest in the short sale or foreclosure business. Maybe you should rethink that. As our experts said, it can be good business if you put some work into it. But also, I certainly believe in being an advocate for your clients. If you have clients in foreclosure, you need to know as much about the process as possible. And you may need to be persistent about it, like our Town Hall Meeting expert, Nancy Freeman. She has the knowledge and energy to be an effective advocate for her clients.

As always, the NAR web site has some good articles with pre-foreclosure and foreclosure tips for agents. And, RSN has an online course on Foreclosure Prevention and Opportunities for Buyer-Clients, scheduled in June. You might also want to check out the video tips on ATOD. They're here on Mainstreet under the RE/MAX University tab.

Like I said in the Town Hall Meeting, foreclosures aren't for everyone, but they're in every town. Give it some thought. And watch for more Town Hall Meetings on RSN in the coming months.
I'll be out traveling the east coast this week for our Be Great in 2008 series. We've hit nearly 20 cities so far! You know me, I have plenty to say about today's market and I'm happy to talk with anyone. But what about you? Don't fail me now. I want to hear what you have to say about the market, the topics discussed in the Town Hall Meeting. Please send your comments in and I'll be taking notes for BlogStreet as I make the tour next week.

Raleigh, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbus- here I come!

Note: The RE/MAX Town Hall Meeting broadcast on April 14th will be rebroadcast in the future and will also be streamed online. Check Mainstreet for more information. The next Town Hall Meeting is scheduled for June 12 at 2 p.m. ET.