Tooting Our Own Horn!

The numbers are in and Beth and I repeated our 2007 performance by outselling ALL of the Realtor teams in the combined Gulf Harbors, Woodlands, and Sea Forest communities in 2008! We are very proud of our 2008 MLS figures. They show our unique marketing methods and home presentation styles are paying off for our clients. Below I talk about those statistics and some of the marketing strategies we used to achieve them.

MLS statistics show that in 2008 there were a total of 66 homes sold in the Gulf Harbors communities, Beth and I sold 14 of them. That’s 21% of all homes sold in these 3 communities! Our nearest competitor sold 11 homes. The second closest team sold only 7 homes combined and none of the 7 homes they sold were their own listings. Of the 14 homes we sold, 5 of them were our own listings. Eight of our listings sold last year which means we sold 63% of them. Finding the buyers for our own listings saves our clients thousands of dollars in commissions! Compare our 63% of own listings sold to our competitor's 40% (he sold 2 of his 5 listings sold) and the second closest team’s 0% and you can see we are aggressively selling our own listings and doing it better than anybody else! By the way, that figure of 8 listings sold is the highest sold by any Gulf Harbors Realtor team. This means our listings sold more than any other Realtor’s listings.

How did we accomplish these statistics? Exposure. Exposure of our websites, our videos, and driving traffic to our websites where our listings can be viewed by buyers who want to be informed. But exposure alone does not sell homes. It's just as important to provide professional and valued service to both the buyer and seller and Belloise Realty Tropical shines in this department!

We also get rave reviews from our buyers (and other Realtor’s buyers) about our videos. They tell us it gave them the best perspective of the homes they viewed when they were searching on the Internet. They love our website too!

Some of the more recent marketing strategies we’ve executed is running an ad in the Waterfront section of the Tampa Tribune classifieds. This ad ran in the Tribune’s entire distribution area during the week of Super Bowl festivities. It also appeared on the Tribune’s websites, including TBO.com, TampaBayOnline.com, and in their child publications like the Suncoast News. Our hope was to catch some of the hundreds of thousands of visitors that were here enjoying themselves during the Super Bowl. Although we didn’t get a flood of calls last week, our website, which address was printed in the ad, showed a significant increase in activity for the period the ad ran. So hopefully, this will translate into additional future buyers.

We also started automated processes which distributes our listings to over 3 dozen websites. These sites include:

GoogleBase, Yahoo! Real Estate, Trulia, Zillow, Oodle, FrontDoor, Lycos, MySpace Classifieds , OLX , Yakaz , Love2Trade , Overstock, AmericanTowns, Kijiji, HouseFront, Local, Hotpads, FeedBurner, eHouseAds, efind, DotHomes, Info , Vast , RealtyFeedSearch , CLRSearch , RealtyFeeds , Enormo , Express , PropBot , MillionRSS , Craigslist, Realbird , WalMart Classifieds , VillageList , MattFined , ListPic , ActiveRain , LiveDeal , BackPage, and several other websites.

Our video tours are a great selling tool and they are time consuming to produce. On average it takes 8 hours to produce a single video. This is why you do not see many Realtors producing these video tours. Yes, you’ll see the boring slide shows set to music which some Realtors call a video tour. These can be constructed automatically and many service providers will create them for under $10. However, buyers feel these are a waste of time since the photos in the slide show are the same ones they have just viewed in the listing.

Our videos are true streaming videos, now in widescreen format, with narration and music which shows off the qualities of our clients' homes. We also include video of community features, like its private beach, tennis courts, pool, and nearby islands. We distribute these videos to YouTube, Yahoo! Video, MetaCafe, and other video sites.

I can't stress how important it is to have a strong Google And Yahoo! presence. A website is worthless if it cannot be located and is not seen. It took at lot of time and hard work tweaking our sites and using Search Engine Optimization (SEO) methods, but our clients now enjoy having their listings on several websites of ours which all have strong presences on the major search engines.

It’s all about exposure. The more eyes which see a listing the better the chance it will be seen by the right buyer. And MLS statistics show we are doing the best job in getting our Gulf Harbors communities' listings sold!

We are also Short Sale experts. We have completed many short sale transactions and have implemented several efficient and proven short sales procedures we created. Read our previous blog entry for details on how a Short Sale might be the right choice for you. View our waterfront short sale listings and other fine Gulf Harbors waterfront homes.

We also have other fine New Port Richey homes and other nearby communities' homes too!

Please call us if you would like us to put our proven marketing strategies to work for you.

Chris & Beth Belloise
(727) 858-8692

Foreclosure Looming? A Short Sale Might Be Your Way Out!

The questionable lending policies and sub prime adjustable rate mortgage mess has caused a record number of foreclosures across the country and Florida was ranked #2 in the U.S. as of October 2008. All of these foreclosures have greatly reduced the value of real estate across the country and have left many homeowners finding that they owe more on their home than it is currently worth. To complicate matters the state of the economy and the number of job losses that have been experienced has only escalated matters and left many homeowners, who were just barely making ends meet, in financial distress and facing foreclosure. If you have found yourself in this situation you may want to consider selling your home short.

What is a Short Sale?

A short sale occurs when the lender agrees to accept less than the amount owed on the mortgage and forgive the balance because the fair market value of the property is less than the amount owed. The short sale process enables the lender to avoid the foreclosure process which can be quite costly. But be aware not all lenders will agree to a short sale, and if you have a second mortgage, both lenders will have to agree to allow you to sell short. Also, most lenders will not consider a short sale if your payments are current. That is why a Realtor or a lawyer can be a tremendous help by contacting the lender's loss mitigation department to find out if they are willing to work with you in a short sale transaction.

Below is a video clip from CBS’s The Early Show. Ray Martin talks with Hannah Storm about the advantages of the short sale.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=2960979n

The main question homeowners ask when considering selling short is how it will affect their credit?

Short Sale vs. Foreclosure's effect on the Seller's Credit?

Don’t be mistaken, a short sale will negatively affect your credit, but not to the degree a foreclosure or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure will.

The credit score of the seller will take a more substantial hit by going through a foreclosure or giving a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure than it will with a short sale. A short sale can result in a loss of about 75 - 175 points on the sellers FICO score. It will also be listed as ‘pre-foreclosure in redemption’ on your credit report. A foreclosure or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure can result in a loss of 200 - 300 points.

Another thing to consider is how long you the seller will have to wait before you are able to obtain a loan to purchase another home. A foreclosure may force you to wait from 3 to 7 years before you are able to purchase a home again. However, with a short sale, you should be able to obtain a loan at a reasonable rate to purchase a home in as little as18 months.

Deciding to sell your home short is not an easy decision to make and should not be taken lightly. A short sale can be a long and difficult a process and take anywhere from 2 to 4 months sometimes longer from start to finish. Though, the end result of not having a foreclosure or deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure on your credit report will be well worth the effort. A foreclosure is much more damaging to your credit report than a short sale.

If you are successful, the difference between what you sell your home for and what you owe on the house is forgiven. You will also avoid having a foreclosure listed on your credit report. In most cases the lender will issue a form1099-C to the borrower for the forgiven debt. The borrower may owe taxes on this amount. However President Bush signed into law December 20, 2007 a bill creating a temporary tax break for homeowners who are able to persuade lenders to forgive part of their debt. For the next three years, the IRS won't count as income debt forgiven by lenders when troubled borrowers negotiate short sales or workouts on their primary residence which involves forgiveness of part of their debt.

HR 3648, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007. The overview and full text of this bill can be viewed using the below link:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-3648

To see the most commonly asked questions and related answers regarding HR 3648, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 on the IRS web site click the link below:

http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=179414,00.html

Other helpful IRS links regarding the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p4702.pdf
http://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=179073,00.html

We advise you to consult with a tax attorney or CPA to discuss the tax implications regarding your particular situation before you decide to sell short. These professionals may charge you a fee for their services, but failing to have the right professional advise could cost you a great deal.

Realtor Commission:

Due to the large increase in foreclosures lenders are willing to negotiate the short sale of homes. They realize the benefit of selling short rather than foreclosing. It is not that the foreclosure process itself costs the lender a substantial amount. It’s the long term maintenance and care, insurance, taxes, and other costs involved with owning a home which eats up their bottom line. As your Realtor, we will provide your lender comparabale listings and sales history and negotiate to convince them they will not likely obtain a better post foreclosure offer.

Your lender realizes our professional services prevented a foreclosure and increased their bottom line while removing you from under a difficult situation. Your lender is willing to compensate us for these services and we negotiate our commission with them. Our fees come out of their proceeds and not out of your or the buyer’s pocket.

Short Sale Documentation:

Below is a list of commonly required documentation you will need to gather for a short sale package. Each lender might require different items or proof of hardship:

Hardship Letter:

The more distressing the letter the better. This letter should describe how you found yourself in your current financial situation and also makes a plea to the lender to accept less than full payment. Lenders are not inhumane and can understand if you lost your job, were hospitalize, but lenders are not particularly empathetic to situations involving dishonesty or criminal behavior.

Proof of Income and Asset:

It is best to be truthful and honest about your financial situation and disclose assets. Lenders will want to know if you have savings accounts, money market accounts, stocks or bonds, negotiable instruments, cash or other real estate or anything of tangible value. Lenders are not in the charity business and often require assurance that the debtor cannot pay back any of the debt that it is forgiving.

Copies of 2 latest Bank Statements

Last two years of tax returns, W-2’s and/or 1099’s if applicable


Copies of 2 latest pay stubs


Making the Decision:

Once you have decided to sell short, give Belloise Realty Tropical a call and make an appoinment to go over your specific situation. First, we will determine if a short sale is right for you. If it is, rest assure that we will provide the professional hard work and detailed attention a short sale requires. We have completed many successful short sale transactions and have negotiated with our clients’ mortgage holders to provide the best possible result for our clients.

As experienced Realtors in short sales, we will expedite your transaction and protect your interests. You do not want to miss any important detail due to an agent who is inexperienced in short sales or find out your transaction is not going to close on time because no one has followed up in a timely manner.

Just being in an area for a long time does not make an agent experienced in short sales. Many Realtors have shrugged off short sales because of the immense amount of work involved with negotiating with lenders and the follow up time required in closing the sale.

Your lender does not delay foreclosing procedures just because you are attempting to find a buyer and sell short. This is why it is important to retain a Realtor with proven short sale experience. Your lender is not going to make it easy or hold your Realtor’s hand through a short sale transaction. You do not want to risk foreclosure with an inexperienced Realtor who might not understand all the necessary procedures, regulations, documentation, or fail to call your lender on a daily basis to pressure them into working your transaction. Your lender has thousands of short sale transactions they are working. It’s important for your Realtor to make your case the squeaky wheel.

Call Belloise Realty Tropical today and let our professional staff of short sale experts remove the stress of working with your lender. You can rest assure you are with proven short sale experts.

Chris & Beth Belloise
Belloise Realty Tropical
The Short Sale Experts
(727) 858-8692