Las Vegas Short Sale Specialist Comes A Long Way In The Nevada Short Sale Process.

” YOU GUYS ARE NEVER TO BRING ME ANOTHER SHORT SALE UNLESS YOU DON’T WANT TO WORK WITH US ANYMORE” – ‘

Las Vegas, NV – January 18, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Yep – I said those words. No – Wait – I “EXCLAIMED” (which is a nice way to say I screamed it at the top of my lungs) those words. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was late 2007, we were just coming off our first year in real estate which included about $200,000 in personal commissions, An average commission check of $10,000, awards such as Rookies of the year and Top Agents in the Company, 7% listing contracts with sellers who had equity and wanted to sell, buyers with lender approval letters in hand that really meant something, and a complete blind eye as to how this would soon all shift to an entirely different business.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIl62k7Qyyo

My husband, Richard Ballen, and I had owned and operated a multi million dollar event planning and catering company which we sold just before the market shifted. We were thanking our lucky stars that we had a great 14 year run with the business that fed our family VERY well and now were were getting out just in time as the economy was heading downward. Not knowing what we really wanted to do from there, my husband said “Let’s get into real estate – there is a great market that we can run it like a business and always make great money” – Little did we know how hard the market would shift and what we would need to do to stay in business in the years to come.

So as I said previously, the first year was AMAZING. The second year brought us our first seller call telling us that he needed to sell but owed more on the mortgage than the home was worth. Our broker explained that this type of transaction would be called a “SHORT SALE”. Within a matter of months the word Short Sale was all the buzz in our office and in the Las Vegas Real Estate Market in general. I myself am a lead generator, business woman, and marketing specialist. – Did you notice that nowhere in that description did I include the word financial expert, debt counselor, legal adviser or mortgage banker? How in the world was I going to do a SHORT SALE?

So I had my husband, the team of agents that I had put together, my administrative assistant, and of course myself start learning. We googled, we Youtubed, we attended seminars, we downloaded e-books, and ordered short sale kits, and we LEARNED IT.  The problem was, in the beginning, the banks had NOT DONE ANY OF THESE THINGS. Seriously – they had no clue. We were all learning it together and I had very little patience for it. I wanted instant gratification (after all I am a woman (and a high D for those of you who know the DISC profile) and these things were taking FOREVER.

We took 3 listings one week – all short sales. All 3 sellers were uncooperative in getting us their hardship information, financials etc. – We had listing contracts and that’s it. Banks would not speak to us without proper verification, and the never ending task of faxing paperwork to banks that “never received” anything was killing me. I had had it. “NO MORE SHORT SALES EVER. I DON’T EVER WANT TO SEE ANOTHER ONE AND WE WILL NEVER DO ANOTHER ONE” – I said so loud that the walls in my office shook. My broker stood at the door and calmly said – yes you will.

Man – was he right!!! I realized almost immediately that short sales were going to dominate the listing market and if we were going to stay on top, or even stay IN the business, I was going to have to work them and encourage my team to go after them. Best decision I ever made. Our entire business is now running off short sales in Nevada and we don’t see that going anyway any time soon.

Here’s the deal though:

Did I want to do them – NO
Were they highly lucrative? – NO
Were they easy? – NO

BUT
Did I want to help solve problems for Homeowners? – YES
Did we become good at them? – YES
Could we build a business around it? – YES

In any event, we now specialize in Las Vegas Short Sales but that is really not what this blog is about. It’s a new year, and as our market shifts, so must we. We are a  usiness of problem solvers and we need to learn how to solve what ever problems come our way in the Real Estate Market to run a proper real estate business.

We need to stay positive, focused, and in a place of gratitude. More than ever we need to be supportive of one another and lend our experience and knowledge whenever we can. We need to continue learning and always be growing. We need to Learn, Live, and Love Life.

Here’s to a MAGICAL 2011. To get help with your Las Vegas Short Sale (North Las Vegas, Henderson too) – call 702-482-7739 or Log On to www.TheBallenGroup.com for Help.