All Forum Posts by: Christopher W.

The problem with being in California is there we're affectionately known as the "guinea pig" state. Many lawmakers will try something new here and then it will slowly spread outward.

That is awesome Brian! Congratulations!

Wow, this thread is just... disturbing.

Great first post! Congratulations!

Lots of good advice here. The one things that is said over and over again is to stay honest. I'm also a beginner and when I am asked how long I have been doing this or how many deals I have closed, I tell them the truth.

I try to downplay my inexperience by aligning myself with more experienced people and riding on their coattails. I say something along the lines of "Well I am still pretty new at this, but I'm working with so-and-so and he has been doing this for X years. He is mentoring me and showing me the ropes.

The other thing I do is learn everything I can so when I'm asked questions I can answer intelligently and honestly. And if I get asked a question I don't know the answer to, I say "You know, I'm not sure. I'll find out and get back to you." And then I find out and get back to them as soon as I can.

The overwhelming majority of people understand that you need to start somewhere and are very understanding about it. After all, they did not get where they are overnight. Everybody has to start somewhere.

One of the many reoccurring themes in that article and subsequent responses is the fiduciary duty to the seller. As agents we absolutely need to keep that in mind, but there are two schools of though here.

Ultimately the end goal is to sell the house in order for the homeowner to avoid foreclosure. You could argue that an investor coming in with his/her own money and closing the deal is a great thing. They pay with cash and don't care if the short sale takes 4 months or a year - where a retail buyer may need financing and gets tired of waiting several months.

On the other hand, you could also argue that negotiating an incredibly low sales price on the A-B side is not in the homeowner's best interest. The lower the sales price, the greater the deficiency. That could increases their tax liability and potentially introduce a whole bunch of other problems.

You can see by the article that some agents don't have a problem with the idea, but unfortunately most do not.

On a side note I think it is also interesting that on Active Rain, a primarily RE AGENT website, short sale investing is frowned upon. Here, an RE INVESTING website, it is not only encouraged it is almost expected. I guess we should consider the source in either case.

Welcome to BP Tony!

IMHO stands for 'in my honest opinion'

Nevermind. As soon as I posted that it started to play. Have to love technology!