Relocate to Wisconsin : February 2009

We thought about it all day...slept on it all night....and still it gnaws away at the very core my being...it fuels my passion and angers my compassion.....what...you say has the power to do all of that...the less than compassionate blogs we see about the boycott of short sales...while I was reading the whining and bashing...in the next room my husband was negotiating short sales for...

• A Seller who had multile heart attacks and lost his once thriving self employed business
• A Couple who had both lost their jobs and he was diagnosed with cancer
• A Seller who bought with no money down and had children with overwhelming medical expenses
• A retired gentleman who had his mortgage adjust $1000 a month, got divorced and seriously ill all in the same 30 days
• A Seller who had an outstanding six figure income and due to a combination of his once thriving company no longer surviving, illness and divorce has a short sale

      The next time you decide that a short sale offer is "too much work"....the selling agent really has no more work than they ever did...just has a buyer who can be patient and in return gets an outstanding value on a property....TRUST a LISTING agent with experience...who knows short sales...who has a reputation for closing them....who does the negotiation themselves,..not with an unknown outside source.

    The next time you decide you won't show a short sale...You decide to bad mouth this kind of transaction..to your buyers,....to your office...on your blog...Think about the people your keystrokes, your words, your less than compassionate approach has and continues to hurt....

   There for the grace of whatever higher power you believe in Go you....

              ARE YOU A COMPASSIONATE REALTOR....Do you just PRETEND you are in the business of "helping people" but actually...you forgot a long time ago that it  has to be about THEM and not about you...and until it is....It will never be about you....You won't ever get a referral from another agent who understands the value of being compassionate...you have branded yourself on the internet and everywhere else as being about YOU and not in trying to make the business better...If you have had a bad experience with a short sale...was it because the listing agent was clueless...are all listing agents for short sales clueless...of course not...Be Part of the Solution...NOT  a negative part of the problem. Sour grapes never yield sweet wine.

  There is a lot of MISINFORMATION about Short Sales floating around everywhere...some of it right here on Active Rain...but a lot of it in markets like southeastern Wisconsin which we proudly serve because they are not as common here...and the very nature of HUMAN NATURE  is to stay away from what you don't know....While we could say things like it's patriotic...it's the right thing to do and other platitudes that sound good...but how realistic are then when you are talking about a sixor more figure investment...one of the largest that an individual makes in a lifetime...feel good about doing something good for someone else...that's a good thing....Several people that attended an open house last weekend at our short sale  heard our explanation of how a home becomes a short sale...through a verifiable hardship of the sellers.

    Several people said...they just couldn't take advantage of someone else's misfortune...Yes....You Can...and here is why you should....

      A seller who has listed their home as a short sale. just like any other seller...needs a buyer...but in this circumstance...the consequences to not finding a buyer in a specific amount of time are very, very serious....and it will affect the life of the seller(s) for many years to come.  If the seller is not successful in selling, the ravages of foreclosure will haunt them, their credit and their paychecks for many years to come if the seller goes into foreclosure.

   Here are some guidlines for short sale buyers and the agents who represent them:

• Know that the listing agent has short sale experience and can guide your offer through the lender maze to a successful closing.
• Buying a short sale is not "let's make a deal" and no...the bank does not have to take ANYTHING...talk with an experienced short sale listing agent...they know the perameters of what is realistic....and you will be rewarded with a great price...just not FREE....
• Patience is a virtue and yours will be rewarded by getting a better than market price for a large investment
• A Short sale seller can't pay their mortgage so don't muddy the offer with things that are not likely to happen like closing cost contributions, repairs, replacements...talk with the listing agent about what is realistic
• If you have a home to sell or a tight and less than flexible deadline for moving...don't even write and give the seller and the agent the idea that you are a realistic buyer prospect

  A short sale can be a wonderful experience for EVERYONE involved...if your agent complains about a bad experience with short sales...ask him/her if he knew the background of the listing agent...one bad experience with an agent who didn't understand the process does not make a the Short Sale Experience a bad one...It can and should be a win/win situation for everyone...

     Shop a short sale...You can get a great price....

   Last weekend it was our very great privilege...and at the same time, sad duty, to do an open house for a short sale. We had sold this home four years ago and watched the new owners do some amazing transformations from landscaping to bathroom updates...they loved the home...and nurtured it and helped it to become all that it is today....and then "life happened"....Unemployment and the real estate market not being quite what it was when they bought the house.

   One of the people who attended the open house asked us to explain a short sale and we told him that the sale...as with ALL short sales were the result of the hardship of the sellers...the verifiable hardship could be illness, death, divorce, unemployment.  He looked very somber..."I could never take advantage of anyone else's misfortune." he said with eyes downcast.    

   "YES...you could...and if you don't have a house to sell..you can and SHOULD..."  He looked puzzled....and then we explained....If this house doesn't sell the sellers will go into foreclosure which ruins their credit...exposes them to garnishment for the deficiency....and plagues them for years to come. 

   To buy a Short Sale Home HELPS THE SELLER and the economy...and the housing market...and your neigborhood !

    I just read a comment on a blog from someone who apparently "doesn't get it" but claims to be a real estate authority saying that "Short Sales HURT...the neighborhood and the community."  Try a foreclosure which is the likely alternative....and what exactly do you think THAT does...???  If you claim to be a realtor, a real estate anything...you owe it to yourself to understand the meaning of the terms that are current in the marketplace....and the alternatives....
  If you are lucky and can buy a home without a home sale contingency...and are willing to be a little bit patient for a wonderful price...Shop short sales...save yourself some money and save someone from foreclosure...it's a home you can enjoy and a purchase that helps everyone !

  Here's your invitation....bring your pre-qualification letter and come on over to our Short Sale Open House in Mukwonago this Sunday, Feb. 29th  Noon- 1:30 p.m., 223 McKenzie Road, Mukwonago, WI

    Short Sale  Affordably Priced: $237,500

          4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2 car att. garage

   There are Short Sale Realtors who will tell you that you should just "let the price sell the house"....and then again...their short sale was not listed with the Hansons...Come on over and enjoy this wonderful 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath 10 year new home...great back yard...eat in kitchen...You can get a peak from the pictures below and come on over and we'll talk real estate...give you a tour...explain why Short

        Inviting Family room with Fireplace

                               Relaxing whirlpool in  the master bath

  Spacious Living Room

Mrs. Clean lives here...you'll want to take advantage of this wonderful home at a great price !  WELCOME HOME !!!

We listed a short sale recently...we had sold the sellers the home and through a combination of very sad hardships as hard as they tried...no one has ever tried harder...they could not stay in their home and remain employed.  The house, in a wonderful neighborhood had some updates done...they had enjoyed the landscaping they did....and maintained it well. We priced it a little below market and had a brokers' open.....with over 30 showings....and on to the open house.

   The phone started to ring with agents promising offers from their buyers....we always asked..."Do you and your buyers understand what a short sale is...?"   No agent ever wants to admit...apparently...that they don't know what they think they SHOULD know...so the answer was always "Yes, of course !"   Not soooo much.......

      - We got offers that included seller paying closing costs

       -Offers that listed what the seller could fix

       -Offers with 45 day closings

      - Home sale contingencies

     -  Without pre-approvals

      We have had to re-phrase what we say to agents so that don't further embarrass themselves and their buyers....  YOU DO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS A SHORT SALE AND AS SUCH:

   - The sellers will not contribute anything for repairs, replacement or closing costs

  - Closing must be flexible 75-90 days

  - No home sale contingencies

  - Letter of pre-approval from local lender OR 3rd party verification of funds for a cash offer

      We could forgive and understand the consumers who were eager to know and to learn about short sales...we offered informational handouts and discussed the opportunity of being a short sale buyer. We get it....now the get it...If you are a realtor or a lender...you had better LEARN  IT !       

 This morning there is a turkey on the grill, brownies in the oven and potatoes bubbling on the stove waiting to meet their masher....we are doing our best to bring a favorite meal to multiple offer presentation tonite for a family we sold a home to a few years ago that has had to short sale their home. We got the house all dressed up and ready to sell from the de-cluttering to the proper pricing...ready, set, list....!

   There are those who would say it's JUST a short sale...there is no such thing as JUST a short sale....every listing has to be about THEM...most especially a short sale...when emotions are high...pain both emotional and financial seems as though it will never stop and the nightmare will never end....unemployment, illness, depression, indecision...the seemingly impossible task of deciding how to put your life back together...you can't take it all with you and you don't know where "with you" is....We try to make it easier...we know that grilled turkey is a family favorite...and brownies are among the most loved chocolate things....so we will cater the offer presentation tonite.

   Our obligation as realtors and short sale specialists is to bring our sellers the highest and best offer for a home that they sooo don't want to leave.  We listen, we try to comfort and we know that a favorite meal doesn't replace a favorite house....we get it....and we believe that after carefully examining every other possibility and the sellers turning the market inside out on a job search, leaving the area for a job is what they have to do..not what anyone wants, but their position dictates.

    What would have been a happy celebration is a bit hollow...it's the best we can do...to help, to comfort, to share tears and help them start over to what we all hope will be a happily ever after in another place.

No one ever said that short sale real estate specialists weren't in this end of real estate NOT to make money...of course we are...it is the profession we chose and one of the areas in which we chose to specialize. Beyond  that it is an area that dedicated short sale real estate agents have chosen to invest in. Invest....Not just in the time that it takes to list a short sale...in taking classes, in earning designations like the CDPE (Certified Distressed Property Experts) which means you pay a course fee...you pay air fare, hotel and meals...you invest time, effort and resources in learning your chosen area of expertise to be the very best you can be in the markets in which you practice. Add to that ....that a "normal real estate transaction" whatever that is these days....takes 2 agents, a buyer and a seller and perhaps 25-30 sheets of paper and 45 days. A short sale transaction....if it is done correctly to our minds...takes the buyer, seller, agents, a coordinator and possibly other staff for additional overhead, the training and constant updating on training of short sale status, the follow up either through/with a coordinator or other person to stay on top of the "file pile " with the lender...investing in whatever each brokerage requires to do a listing...transaction fee, listing fee, a choice of photography, web placement, time for promotion, etc....AND the all important package or more than likely packages that are carefully prepared and fully documented for the lenders involved....then the commissions are sometimes cut for all of this effort AND instead of the 45 day wait to get paid....it is now 75-90 days to closing. Yes, your choice to me a short sale specialist involves some sacrifice and extra effort.

     Why do it ?  Don't try it if you can't handle it financially....if you are going to end up shorting your short sale sellers in service, in effort or promotion.

  Short Sale Sellers you deserve attention....communication....be sure you interview real estate agents who really want to sell your home as a short sale..AND more importantly...MOST importantly...have the education, the dedication and the resources to take your home to a successful closing. Choose wisely, if you need a recommendation for a short sale realtor in your realtor or a realtor who will carefully examine your situation and research whether or not a short sale is your best option...call us, we can help no matter where you are in the country...give us a call...414-525-0563 or toll free: 877-525-0563...We want you to have the professional service you deserve and the opportunity to start live over again in the best way possible.

   I am a graduate of the "do it now" philosophy school....take that listing, answer that e-mail...get back to that agent with the information, remind the buyer, e-mail the seller....Sometimes that means getting up eariler, staying up later....delegating tasks....sharpening the multi-tasking skills we all have hidden somewhere...

ARE YOU SUFFERING FROM ANNIE SYNDROME ? 

                          HERE ARE SOME WARNING SIGNS....

                                                           Sellers

-You are still considering paint colors and have yet    to call  Got Junk so you can walk thru the basement  and the garage

You have convinced yourself that "selling in the  spring is the answer to a a healthier market even   though your realtor tells you there are likely to be  more homes on the market and you will get less  money the longer you wait to list..”tomorrow is  always a day away !

Buyers

                   While you wait for interest rates to be the best rate the house of your dreams may be sold…tomorrow, tomorrow…

                             Negotiate with the able skill of a buyer’s agent; know that the media  doesn't                                               know e verything, real estate is local…know what you don’t know

 Don't let real estate enf on a sour note....do it now...not tomorrow....

  My mother was a fan of Harry Belafonte and you could frequently hear the strains of calyso tunes flowing throughout the house as Harry belted out the folk music of his Carribean heritage...Matilda...Mary, Mary...Scarlet Ribbons, Jamaica Farewell.

I remember his bronzed physique prominently pictured on album covers...and as children, we learned every word of the often repeated melodies.

   There was a song and the lyrics were in part, what we viewed then as "really naughty" ...we would not dared have said "Shut up your mouth..." and today when we got a call from a distressed short sale seller...these lyrics came rushing into my mind and  I wanted to scream them to the lender.....

   The lender...I will not be unprofessional and say which one...told the seller...who is unemployed with no unemployment compensation...has cancer...and his wife just lost her job....was told he should NOT short sale his home..should pay whatever they can and that they would be responsible not only for the deficiency but for taxes on it as well....LENDER ABUSE....There should be some ethics required by some agency somewhere...and SOME TRUTH applied to these phone calls...people who have already been broken by the hardships that have befallen them do not need to be beaten up further by lenders...or poorly educated tele-whatever they ares....Life Happens....and it sure doesn't have to happen any worse than it has already for these people.

 It is ever so easy to complain about real estate taxes, the city that does this, legislates that...requires you to...does not provide.  Each of has a responsibility...moral, ethical...however you wish to frame it....to help determine who the decision makers are in your area.  Whether it is the alderman...the mayor, the school board member...make it your priority to know the issues and the candidates...and do what you know you must...take the time to go to the poles and make a difference.

   You have no room to complain when you have not taken the time to be a part of the process...a part of the solution to whatever challenges your area faces....JUST DO IT....GO VOTE !

  Your Vote is your Voice...Use it Wisely...Make it Heard.

  Wow...great layout...steps from the park...ready for your family to enjoy with a little patience for a short sale. Mrs. Clean lives here....feel free to eat off any floor...from the spacious kitchen with island...and adjoining dinette...first floor laundry...cozy family room with fireplace...on to the living room...and a room now used for an office can be your dining room or whatever your imagination wishes it to be !

  Great back yard with a patio and above ground pool.  Come on upstairs to the master suite with whirlpool and separate shower....walk in closet and large bedroom. Three other generously sized bedrooms and a full bath complete the upper level,

  Pottery Barn decor and attached 2 car garage complete this family home...at a short sale price you will appreciate...just $237,500.

  Call the Hansons for your own guided tour of this great home...With a little patience with a short sale you will have a great home at an outstanding price. Find out today what people say about the prompt service and proven results the Hansons provide...you will be glad you did !

                                                                                 223 McKenzie Road. Mukwonago, WI

                   Stone Brook Pass, Mukwonago,WI

You'll love this one year new custom home with open concept design...gourmet kitchen, master suite retreat with spa shower...four bedrooms, four baths...finished lower level...soaring ceilings fenced in ...and you can have up to 5 horses if you wish !  In addition to the attached 3 car garage, there is a separate out building 36 x 40....heated with water....your workshop...hobby hideaway....you choose. Four bedrooms, four full baths...formal dining room...sun room...plenty of storage...no detail has been overlooked.

      We know you will choose to call this Country Estate perched on over 7 acres you home at just $595,000, you will find it to be the short sale value you have always dreamed could be yours ! Stay tuned for interior photos....you know what it's like to fall in love with a house you'll want to call home.

   For this and other luxurious homes in Southeastern Wisconsin...call the Hansons...experience the service that you deserve with the experience you can trust. Call us to arrange a personal tour of this wonderful country estate. Seven days a week:414-525-0563.

Some fortunate family will be fortunate enough to call this lovely dormered cape home.  Brand new carpeting...a 1 year old roof....a kitchen with a wall of pantry cabinets...more than Martha ever dreamed of having...Family friendly floor plan...ceramic tiled kitchen, dinette and formal dining room. Living room with fireplace and decorator shelf enhances the 2 stoeied room that opens to a family room. Half bath, first floor laundry and office or fifth bedroom complete the first floor with newly updated powder room.

  Come on up the newly carpeted stairs to the master suite with walk in closet and new custom marble spa shower and double vanity...down the hall you will find three more bedrooms and another newly updated full bath. All of this under a one year old roof ! Not to worry about Radon Testing...our sellers have a mitigation system installed. 

   An extra special feature is the deck off the kitchen that has a removable enclosure that makes it a real outdoor room all summer long....or start in the spring and appreciate the fresh landscaping !

   This home is short sale priced at just $274,777. For a private tour or more information on this wonderful home...call the Hansons..you'll find out why 98% of our business is by referral....for prompt service and proven results...call 414-525-0563....for this and other homes throughout southeastern Wisconsin.

  We have an offer on a gorgeous short sale  home that we just got last week...it was accepted by the sellers and promptly submitted to the lenders by our coordinator. The selling agent just called this morning at 7:30 to proudly announce that the buyers had just sold their home.  How nice...not that it matters since the offer was of course, not contingent on the sale of their home...

   Soooo...the agent continued....now my buyers would like to move the closing up considerably....that won't be a problem will it ?

  Of course not...we will get right on the phone to the loss mitigation departments of the lenders and let them know that your buyers are ready to rock...that will certainly make it to the top of their radar screens...and they are likely to blow away their whole calendar...because that is what will work best for your buyers.  I sure hope you told the buyers that this is no problem and then get prepared to have a healthy meal of "eat your words."

   If you are working with an agent that represents you as a buyer for a short sale listing, if they don't understand the process and have never listed or sold one before...either do your own homework or if a short sale is first and foremost what you want...shop with an agent who "gets it"...knows it...has bothered to learn it. It will save you a lot of sleepless nights and broken promises.

   Without getting into religion but sharing life philosophies...we have enjoyed the very great benefits of the power of positive thinking.  It is absolutely everywhere...if you look for it from the "Glass half full people....to the silver lining, end of the rainbow...

   We belong to a mutual admiration society....Tom Braatz, David and I have become friends through Active Rain.  We have a mutual professional respect,....sometimes I think it's more for our kitchen...Tom has a healthy respect for my cooking...as we do for his appetite !

    Valentine's Day is a mushy, gushy holiday...but it's also a time to remember, we think about the people who have come into your life to be a positive compliment to your profession, your life lessons...your ever changing list of friends and associates...Let that chubby cherub sling arrows not just at your spouse...but your friends and associates who have in many ways shown you other kinds of love.

  Soooo to our special AR pals...Happy Valentine's Day...we DO love you...

TOM BRAATZ - For a your humor, good heart....and cure for leftovers, we thank you.

KATRINA MADEWELL - Our Tampa connection...never too busy to give us "techie tips"

MARGARET ROME - She can help "heal" your real estate practice and whatever ails you in one phone call

RON HOWARD - Someone we share CDPE designation and short sale "tales" to help each other

MIDORI MILLER - Always there for professional assistance

  The list goes on north to south....east to west....a very happy Valentine's Day....Hansons BOTH

   We went on a listing appointment for a short sale at house that had been listed for over a million dollars...it has custom everything. Soaring ceilings with triple trays and cherry crown molding, double sided fireplaces with marble surrounds and cherry mantles with custom applied carving...a dining room with built in cabinets and a warming drawer...2 whirlpool tubs, a spa shower...an indoor basketball court and exercise room, multiple patios and decks overlooking a pond framed in woods....skylights...you name it and if this house doesn't have it...it probably hasn't been invented to date.

   Mr. Seller made apologies as he needed to tidy some areas....and confessed to having some depression...his divorce and salary reduction of almost 75% had put him in the position of considering a short sale. "You know," he said his voice starting to quiver after he explained his "upside down" condition, "I have a 3 year old daughter,....and she is my world...none of this trimmings and trappings are really important.  If there has been any benefit to all that has happened...it has been that I have re-ordered my priorities.  When my credit is fixed, this sale is complete and I can buy a house again...I am choosing a simpler life...to enjoy my daughter...that's what's REALLY important." 

   If there is a silver lining to a short sale...that would surely be it....Avoiding foreclosure is a womderful thing and we are proud to be able to help people do just that. There own realization of newly ordered priorities is a gift they have given themselves...and it is truly priceless.

 We have had two incidents in the last week that have to make you wonder what sort of management or lack thereof there is in this age old institution.....

   We do one major mailing and others a month...our Sphere looks forward to our letter and newsy tidbits about the market...we here it gets posted in employee lounges and lunch rooms...read at Club meetings...talked about at Homeowners' Associations....we mail hundreds every month. Yes, we know we could use e-mail...some of our sphere is not and will never be tuned into the internet...and over 98% of our business last year was "By referral"  so we stick with what works !

      We buy stamps.....sometimes by the roll as was the case this past week....and one roll of 100 had just 80 stamps....the roll was sealed....and it was clearly a "short fill."  We brought this to the attention of the post office where the stamps were purchased...

          "Gee...no one ever really counts them, there is nothing we can do."

        We live on a street that has the same name as several others...we are Drive...there is a lane, court, avenue and very frequently, despite the mail being addressed correctly, it is mistakenly delivered to other addresses.  This can be bills, checks, letters....the post office doesn't discriminate.  Today, there was a check,  that had been delivered to the wrong address...torn envelope enclosed inside another envelope...and a little brown envelope that indicated that we owed the carrier 42 cents...for re-delivering where it should have been delivered in the first place !

                                                        HUH ????

  Lots of people have trouble thinking about putting anyone or anything before themselves.  It is about what they want, think the need, "have to do", cannot do....FIRST...MOST and ALMOST ALWAYS....

 
  Despite the buzz from every possible media source, e-mail, snail mail...radar screens everywhere telling us that the buyers are king and it IS the very best time to buy....we learned you can still go on a listing appointment....and learn that some sellers think it is all about them...because their condo, house, lot IS better than the neiighbors...

    They want to believe sooo much that the investment they made a few years ago in that real estate they have  been calling home is worth not only what they paid...but gee whiz, golly sakes...they added pottery barn colors and a new garbage disposal and changed the light fixtures....and oh those perennials they planted...all those things need to be added up and appreciated...and NOW they will choose the time they should list....hmmmm let's say "spring"...it's when the market in Wisconsin gets still MORE crowded with the "I can only sell in the spring.." philosophy being alive and well.(Good thinking...the inventory, Mr. Seller is likely to  be higher and then your pottery paint will DEPRECIATE as you struggle to be noticed along with the dozens of others on the market.)

   As the very old song goes(Not sooo old..I remember the words !)..."Make a New Plan Stan....Get on the Bus, Russ" 

Enjoy the fact that you can make the best BUY ever,....outstanding interest rates, wonderful selection in the best possible condition, and the lowest prices we have seen in decades.....THAT's the trip you can take to be a "REAL Real Estate Winner."

    We recently listed a home as a short sale and the Seller was amazed...of course she believed that her home was worth the Zillion Dollars that her former agent for a list price.  That would mean paying the mortgage, the HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) and giving her and her soon to be ex-husband a little bit to "start over"....and then the ugly housing market raised it's head..unemployment became reality for her and the reality of a short sale was the only answer.

    Knowing what the Short Sale Price would be...not the inflated price that it had been listed at....she decided to tell the former listing agent that she would like to be listed as an exception...NOW she thought....she would just buy her house back !

   No No No....Short Sale Sellers...You can't cry "I can't afford" in one breath and buy back in the next...it doesn't work that way.  Short sales are sooo much better than foreclosure...you should  be able to get your credit back up and hopefully save some money now that you are not over burdened with a mortgage you can't afford...and start over in another house.  We are here to help you now...and we will be then when you are ready to become a homeowner once more...financially.  Not now....not the house you short saled...there is no Santa Claus for Short Sale Sellers to "re-gift" their own home at a lower price.

     We have several investors who are looking to buy some mult-family buildings and I began to peruse the listings in the locations they had chosen.  I did the math and looked at the rents...when they were given...and asked for expenses beyond the taxes....(amazing some "listing agents" don't know what falls into the expense category.) 

      When I pointed out to several listing agents that there was no cash flow for an investor...or next to none even with 25-30% down....several listing agents said..."Well, of course that's not the REAL Price." Seems all of the multi-family sellers don't want the "real price" in MLS because they know that the buyer will just offer a lower one. Did you forget Ms/Mr. Listing Agent that the seller can choose...you can negotiate...if you have started at toooo high a list price...are buyers and agents supposed to get out their crystal balls to determine what price you will REALLY sell at ?  Are you missing the market ? YOU BET your security deposits you are !