Homeowners are in crisis. They need an advocate, someone to guide them through the perilous process of mortgage default. They need to understand that they have multiple options, not just one. They don’t need a listing agent/broker to be a “short sale pusher” because a short sale might not be in their best interest.
Certified Home Rescue Experts are specially trained to understand the needs of the individual homeowner, to guide the homeowner to their available choices and alert them to the benefits and consequences of each choice. We do not focus on distressed properties. We focus on the distraught homeowner in the property. As part of the training, we bring in experts from various fields (economists, tax and real estate attorneys, credit specialists and bankruptcy attorneys) to help you become an expert in rescuing homeowners from the greatest personal crisis they’ve ever faced.
Through our unique program, you will learn to listen and share. You’ll come to understand the finer distinctions between modifications, short sales, foreclosures, bankruptcy and maintaining the status quo. You will gain the confidence to really help others understand as well.
You will become a ray of hope for those that desperately need our help. You are truly on the front line and in the best position to “rescue” homeowners and give them back their dignity, power and their future.
When you quiet the fears of a frightened homeowner and free them from their prison of personal shame, you will have a client for life.
In addition to learning how to guide and counsel homeowners in crisis, you will be introduced to the most successful short sale training and negotiation program today. The professional negotiations are made available exclusively to trained CHRE members.
We control what we can control and give up control of what we can’t control. We establish proper expectations of sellers, buyers and agents/brokers. We manage those expectations so that everyone is fully committed to our process.
We have a plan. We strictly control the buyer’s offer so that every ratified contract in our short sale program is a full price, non-contingent, As-Is offer. We make the very best offer that the lien holder can expect to receive – and we can prove it.
The seller is represented by experienced counsel to guide and assure them throughout the turbulent negotiating process. The agent/broker has no liability and no negotiating duties. CHRE members know that handling their own negotiations with lien holders is frutstrating, time consuming and fraught with liability. They are happy to go find homeowners in crisis and introduce them to our system.
Our pricing strategies guarantee a full price, non-contingent offer within 40 days on the market.
We have a 95% success rate.
Sellers are trying to make difficult financial decisions, with life altering consequences, while struggling with the emotional burdens of shame, guilt and personal failure. We LISTEN to the homeowner and then we guide them.
People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. We like to say that we “TEACH” the seller:
Trust - Allow the homeowner to trust you and never violate their trust.
Empathy - Be conscious of their price, ego and self esteem.
Action - Confidently move the seller through the short sale process.
Compassion/Counsel/Coach - Stay out of judgment.
Hope/Healing - Be the springboard for a brighter future.
We treat a short sale like an REO listing. We have our own addendum with terms designed to increase our chance of short sale approval with the lien holder. The buyer must agree to our terms or we will not accept their offer.
We don’t want to appear punitive to a buyer so we build in protections for them. We ask them to “be our partner” in the short sale process and assure them that, with their help and assistance, we will have a 95% chance of getting the short sale approved by the lien holder(s).
- A truly motivated seller;
- Pre-approved price reductions;
- Little to no marketing expenses;
- Seller is represented by legal counsel (no liability for agents/brokers);
- Guaranteed to get a full market price, non-contingent contract in 40 days or less.
- Ninety-five percent (95%) chance of closing.
Would you like to have that listing every time?
Good question. Actually, the opposite is true. We don’t try to “make” the market. We only seek to “find” the market. And we do it quickly because the seller is likely in default on their loan and has a limited amount of time to get this done right.
We have common sense pricing strategies with pre-authorized price reductions designed to attract serious buyers. Our pricing goal is to provide a full market price offer to the lien holder. When properly executed, we expect a full price, non-contingent, As-Is offer between the 20th and 40th day on the market with at least 2 to 4 price reductions.
That’s easy. Homeowners struggle to with an enormous sense of shame, embarrassment, personal responsibility and personal failure.
These emotional responses interfere with a homeowner’s good judgment and ability to make informed decisions which are best for them and their family.
First, a homeowner should be grateful if they still have a choice. Too many homeowners arrive at that question without choice and they stop paying because they’ve run out of money, spent their savings and retirement funds on making a mortgage payment that never benefitted them because they’re still upside down by $100K or more.
I don’t ever advise homeowners to stop making their payments. That is a deeply personal decision and one that can only be made when the homeowner is ready to make it. I just want to hold up the mirror so they can see clearly the benefits, or not, of that decision.
The negative event of the modification, short sale, foreclosure or bankruptcy is the credit equivalent of going over a cliff. If you’re going over a cliff, does it really matter whether you run off the cliff or walk off the cliff? YOU’RE GOING OVER A CLIFF!
It’s true that continuing to make payments will leave the homeowner with a slightly higher score after a short sale or foreclosure than if they stopped making their payments but the truth remains that THEY JUST DID A SHORT SALE. THEY WENT OVER A CLIFF AND NOBODY IS LOANING THEM ANY MONEY!
For example, if a homeowner and I had similar credit scores and each were faced with having to do a short sale to save us from financial ruin, and they continued to make their mortgage payments while I stopped making mine, their credit score might be 30 to 40 points higher than mine after a short sale. That’s all. Oh, don’t forget, THEY WENT OVER A CLIFF AND NOBODY IS LOANING THEM ANY MONEY!
This example assumes that we can even get that homeowner’s short sale approved if they were current on their payments which, while not impossible, is VERY, VERY difficult. But if we could, what is the benefit to them of continuing to make their payments? I encourage anyone to identify one benefit. I haven’t been able to find one.
Now, I know it’s very hard to consciously default. That’s why each homeowner has to decide when, or if, the time is ever right for them. Hopefully, they’ll figure it out before they spend all of their savings and retirement money and default because they DON’T HAVE A CHOICE.
That’s the bottom line. It’s not IF, it’s WHEN. When will they be ready to face their reality? It’s ugly, dirty and unfortunate but it shouldn’t be shameful or embarrassing. They didn’t cause this problem. The greatest error they made is that they bought or refinanced your home at the wrong time! So did millions of others.
It’s not that we CAN’T complete a short sale if a homeowner is still current on their payments; it’s that an approval is VERY, VERY difficult to get – nearly impossible. This is because the lien holder can’t/won’t help the homeowner default. Why would they assist a borrower in defaulting when they’ve proven that they are responsible and conscientious? If they reject the request, they’re betting that the homeowner will keep paying anyway – because those individuals always honor their obligations. And statistically, the lien holder is usually right. Most homeowners continue to pay out of duty until they don’t have any more money to pay and then they default.
The lien holder will prey on a homeowner’s sense of emotional weakness, guilt, duty and obligation and will encourage (intimidate) homeowners to pay until they simply run out of money and CAN’T pay them. Then they have to default.
The greater question is WHY would a homeowner want to continue making payments if they’re heading for a short sale? What benefit do they think it’s giving them? The event of a short sale will have a negative impact on their credit that is far worse than their missed payments.
Remember, they are going over a cliff.
The only way to NOT go over the cliff is to continue paying the mortgage until it’s completely paid. They can just make their mortgage payments and they won’t have to worry about any of this.
I know. They can’t afford to keep making their mortgage payments. That’s when I ask them if any of this sinking in yet.
You may become a Certified Home Rescue Expert (CHRE) by attending one our live one-day certification seminars or by taking the online video certification course. The cost is $399 per person and includes a 3-month Silver Membership for free.
If you would like to schedule a live certification course in your brokerage or region, please contact us.