All Forum Posts by: Ted Schmidt

Thomas,

Specialize. Find a niche market that is within your geography. Become an expert serving that niche.

Here are some examples of niche markets

Investors

Poor credit

First time home buyers

Commercial

I would suggest that you use part of your budget to buy leads instead of buying lists of suspects. My definition of a lead is "a person that has expressed an interest in a specific product or service and has requested to be contacted".

Some companies specialize in selling leads specifically designed for real estate investors. A search of Google under the search term "foreclosure leads" will display a list of these companies.

Be sure you separate the leads companies from the list companies or companies that compile data from public records. Public record data is not a lead, it is a suspect - anyone can get it for free on Zillow.

Lead companies employ sophisticated marketing tactics that produce the exact lead that lead buyers want. They specialize in marketing - that is the value they bring.

I was think more along the line of helping as in.. "may I please have another helping? ".

Seriously, this is an important issue and should not be taken lightly.

At my church, at a recent pot luck, I had a chance to get to know some people in the congregation who asked me what I do for a living and I explained "bla bla bla" .

A woman in a very colorful hat said, "I am facing foreclosure is there anything I could do to help her". I thought for a moment and replied only if I could have another helping of pie. Of course I was joking and I said that just to break the tension and we all laughed.

Technically that is a violation of federal law because I said I would help only if I was compensated with a piece of pie in advance. The law doesn't say if the compensation is reasonable or not, it just says I can't ask for it in advance unless I am licensed to practice law in her state.

Do not attempt to practice law without a license. Do not commit fraud.

I think my work is done here.

Great work Brian finding that criminal case. They were convicted fraud. Fraud is illegal whether or not a foreclosure is involved. This just goes to show that you should not commit fraud. Again, there is no federal law or licensing requirement to attempt to help people in foreclosure.

It may be a lake infested with alligators but if you know how to behave around alligators you are fine.

Joe,

Here is one example of an enforcement action, there are hundreds of cases. In this one the defended had to pay a $500,000 fine, lost his Bentley and other very unpleasant things. He didn't have to go to jail. I haven't seen a case where the person went to jail. Usually they just take all your stuff and that's bad enough.

http://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cases/131212americanmortgagestip.pdf

-Ted

I think it is useful to help judge the credibility of a post without the necessity of leaving the page going to a members profile. I miss it.

Before i became a pro member - it used to say "member since..." next to someones name in the posts. It doesn't show that anymore. Why? My browser maybe?

Gabe, NEVER say that. It is likely that the persons credit will be ruined anyway and if you make a whole lot of money off this house the seller could come back and bite you. God forbid that you put it in writing.

I can hear it now already.."He said this would save my credit... now the man took my house made a whole bunch of money...

-Ted

"there is no law against smashing one's own thumb with a hammer"

I would have done it myself so as not to bother you. Is there a way for a user to move a post to another forum as an afterthought?

Bill, Thanks to the pointer to that info. I learned a lot. Here is a link for other students to the federal register the defines precisely that information about counseling services

-Ted