Introducing my blog on pre foreclosure marketing

Hi all,

Jim Rutkowski here and I talk to a lot of realtors and investors day in and day out, and one common question I'm asked is what the best way is to market to homeowners in pre foreclure. I've entered the blogosphere in an attempt to answer that question.

I don't profess to know your game better than you do, but perhaps I can be a springboard of information. Having talked to so many real estate professionals and seen so many marketing campaigns, hopefully I have a good antenna to know what works -and what doesn't work.

I've rarely talked to a realtor or investor that truly enjoys doing short sale transactions. Yet short sales are the realty we're faced with today. They are simply unavoidable. The finger can be pointed to many forces and factors, although I don't find it productive to assign blame. Instead, I want to avail this forum to focus on profiting in distressed homes and help homeowners with a dignified solution. Sure, we're all in it to make money, but if we can help troubled homeowners preserve their day-to-day affiars, their credit and a sense of normalcy, all the better.

Owning a home is a wish envisioned by almost every couple in America but actually acquiring one can be either a dream come true, or a nightmare in disguise. Affording that home consists of having the credit rating to find a good loan to purchase it and enough financial where-with-all to make the monthly mortgage payments on time when the due date comes. If a homeowner misses one payment and get behind, it is hard to play catch-up and some never do. The unthinkable happens and they find themselves in default on both the loan and on the mortgage.

Imagine a homeowner has defaulted on a home loan and they are worried that the lender is going to come to take their precious home away and leave them with no hope of closing the loan. The spouse is staring at them to do something, the kids are crying, worried that the Internet connection is going to get cut off and the homeowners are looking into a pile of bills that seems to just keep getting bigger and bigger

This grim set of circumstances is all too common, for varied reasons. The number one reason many consumers default on their loan is unexpected expenditures, which happen suddenly, or an unanticipated emergency. More people lose their homes because of illness, the loss of a job or marital discord than any of the other reasons. Of course, this problem has been compounded by borrowers aggressively seeking less than perfect loans and homeowners that have used their home as bottomless piggy banks. According to this REUTERS article, Housing risks still lurk even as buyers return, the housing market will likely decline further due to continued pressure from adverse economic forces.

Regardless of the varied reasons for hardship or what has set the stage, a homeowner that has recently defaulted on their loan payment is in a very stressful prediciment. Oftentimes, they cannot see the forest from the trees.

The adept investor that can empathise with thier plight and help them through this difficult period in their lives will undoubtedly be successful.