A recent webinar by the Five Star FORCE [1] addressed current challenges faced by REO agents and gave tips on how they can position themselves in the current distressed property environment. The webinar titled “Agents Helping Agents: Communicating Your Value to Prospective Clients” had members of the FORCE Advisory Council providing the audience with a “kick-start toolkit” to help brokers position themselves for the next upcoming distressed market while sharing personal journies about how they managed these transitions.
During this hour-long webinar, industry experts discussed pertinent topics such as website creation and REO portal profiles, creating corporate files and resumes, social media presence, marketing systems, professionalism, and much more.
Sharing her personal journey, Terry Rasner-Yacenda, Five Star FORCE Chairperson and Broker/Owner of Reno/Tahoe Realty Group LLC said that her first REO assignment didn’t go as planned. “But I didn’t give up. I just kept searching and searching, until I found someone who would mentor me,” she said. “Today, as members of the FORCE, you have the Five Star Academy that you should utilize to start positioning yourself for when the distressed property market will start happening again.”
Speaking on improving performance through exposure and branding initiatives and how brokers can improve their profiles and portals, Nancy Braun, FORCE Advisory Council Vice-Chair and Owner/Broker-In-Charge of Showcase and Carolina Property Management, LLC asked brokers to dedicate at least an hour a week to update their profiles and bios on various online sites.
Braun explained that such updates to bios, profiles, web pages, and social media were necessary because, “When an asset manager is looking for you, they will do a google search and if you are not updated online, they’re going to think that you are not someone who’s performing to their maximum and move on to someone else,” she observed.
Explaining the items that an agent must include in their online profiles and the importance of updating their business profiles on social media and REO portals, Braun said, “The basic thing you should think about is why should they pick you over all the other agents. If you don’t have this stuff you should work towards it and showcase your unique selling proposition.”
Giving tips on how agents can tap potential clients Justine Jimenez Garcia, Licensed Real Estate Broker and Coach and Owner of Countrywide Properties Inc, said that networking played an important role in getting potential leads. “Perseverance is what you need to keep in mind while getting in with any company,” Garcia said while sharing her personal experience of how networking regularly helped her.
Giving an overview of the current housing market and the economy, Jim Hastings, of Hastings Brokerage Ltd took the audience through the trends that are likely to impact the distressed property market going forward. “We are in the longest nonrecessionary period in the history of America,” he said. “But an economy is all about ups and downs.”
Donato Ortini, the Owner/Broker at Stone Tower Realty LLC, discussed professionalism in this field. “Essentially being professional is about giving your best at all times,” Ortini said while giving 12 tips on why it was important to remain professional, in a rapidly changing environment. “Think about how your behavior will be perceived by others and make sure to understand and follow company codes of conduct where they exist.”
Steven Pagano Associate Broker at Coldwell Banker explained the importance of understanding property preservation issues. “Understanding these issues is important to communicate the value you can offer as an REO broker to asset managers,” he said.
Regina Shaw, Associate Broker at Intero Real Estate Services gave insights into how brokers could prepare for the upcoming distressed real estate assets market. She said that apart from REO/foreclosures, there were many aspects to the default/distressed market that can be a great source of income. Giving some examples such as working on BPOs and short sales, Shaw said, “If you were short sale certified before, I recommend you brush up because previously mandated laws have either gone away or changed drastically.”
Click here [2] to view the complete recording.