Has anybody else noticed a slow down since the goverment tax money ran out? We are still trying to close everything from the last minute buyers, but have noticed a slow down in showings since April 30th.

I do commercial so my sales have been ramping up. On the residential side YES I am seeing not as much inventory because of the loan mods and all the government intervention.

All it's doing is extending the pain where it can be absorbed in small chunks over time.

The tax credit created a false bump of sales and once that went away there was no urgent need to purchase.

I listened to a speaker today that stated all the tax credit did was bring future home buyers to the present. Now there will be a slow time.

I agree, its time to start picking up some more short sales for a while...

This is very true unfortunately. If you are looking for short sale listings You may want to sign up with reo prep they advertise here on the forum (over to the right) and they are working with short sales, so if you are serios about short sales you should check into it. I hope that helps.

Can anyone else vouch for REO prep? Is it worth the money?

I'd say it's a successful way for an agent to spend some money.

Looks like some ancient 1990's website that a 6th grader created in their basement.

But they are killing REOTrans on the fees. $4.80 per zip. Wow. All so they can advertise on "radio show FM 100.7 - Hace bien". What credentials!

Let me just put it this way. None of you dopey amateur newbie agents are going to get REO listings now or ever. No matter how many stupid seminars you attend or how many dumb DVD's you buy. REO listings go to pretty much the same agents that have been doing them for decades. Agents who can handle them in bulk and agents who can comfortably be on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars in expenses while processing this type of inventory. So stop buying stuff and get your butts out in the field and prospect normal listings the old fashioned way. Damn, this is such a hustling snake oil business at times and the winner for biggest suckers in a dramatic role goes to....... real estate agents.

Wow, Navarac, I sense some hostility here!

It is true, however, that no matter how much training you have or who you pay for the information, asset managers already have their agents that they use. A few years ago, when the market started to decline, every agent with a license applied to all the REO companies, so they limited applications to agents with at least 2 years REO experience, then they stopped taking applications altogether.

Don't waste your money trying to break in to that arena. The only chance you may have is to work for a broker who does them a lot. They will train you, and you will get the contacts and make the relationships.

Wow, the insult was not needed, navarac. What do you care if they spend their money on DVDs and seminars if they aren't going to get anywhere? Why resort to insults? Let 'em learn the hard way but you don't have to kick 'em as well.

Sheesh.

However I got an e-mail from Fannie Mae the other day asking companies to register as they were replacing some of their other agents. I fear that I'm not "diverse" enough for them though.