Treasure Hunting With Short Sale Leads
You do not have to be a real estate professional to cash in on the lucrative “short sale” market in today’s economy. With record numbers of homeowners defaulting on their mortgage loans there has never been a greater opportunity to make money in real estate through short sales. Lenders know that home values have fallen dramatically, especially high-end homes, and as a result are willing to negotiate a lower payoff in a short sale. This opens up a completely new avenue of business for both nonprofessionals and professionals who seek to cash in on the wealth of foreclosures across the country.
An investors dream, cutting a deal with a lender can reduce the price of a home, or other real estate, substantially. How can you find these treasures? The trick is getting to the borrowers first. Often people are embarrassed or have no idea how serious the situation really is when they are in default. You can find mailing list and online leads that will guide you to borrowers who are as little as two months behind on their mortgage payments, giving you a head start on the whole process.
Lists of “Notices of Default” are public information but often by the time you see them in published form the foreclosure process is well underway and time is running out. This can also work to your advantage however, if you happen to be working with a lender or a borrower who is getting desperate. Purchasing short sale leads while still early in the default process is a smart way to be the one who gets there first with a plan to negotiate a short sale for a panicking homeowner who does not want a foreclosure on their record.
Short sale leads can be downloaded from the Internet, which speeds up the process when time is of the essence. From the filing of a NOD (Notice of Default), the foreclosure clock has begun ticking and time is critical. Only the lender can halt the process once it has begun, making your job even more important if you are the one they are negotiating with. Do not forget that more than just making money, which is great of course, you are also helping a homeowner who is in trouble. Short sale leads really are treasures worth hunting!
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