| In this busted economy, Realtors and mortgage | | | | tools to accomplish this. Afterwards, these reams of |
| brokers have become "counselors" for the hundreds | | | | paper must be compressed into a listing presentation |
| of thousands of homeowners who are upside down | | | | that compares different courses of action to each |
| on their mortgages. Much of America has seen their | | | | other in order to explain recommendations. And |
| home equity evaporate and find themselves stuck | | | | about that time, the client asks, "Yea, but what if I |
| with large monthly payments on a property that has | | | | buy down the principle...or do this?" Oops, back to the |
| lost as much as fifty percent or more of its market | | | | drawing board. |
| value. It is a depressing situation and these | | | | Obviously, manually trying to come up with |
| homeowners are crying out for help. | | | | recommended course of action for prospective |
| "What should I do?" is a common request from | | | | clients is not cost effective for real estate |
| beleaguered homeowners, "What makes the most | | | | professionals. So, are there automated tools that can |
| financial sense for our situation?" There are a | | | | accomplish this without consuming endless man |
| multitude of possible answers, but which works best | | | | hours? |
| for a prospective client? After all, these are hardly | | | | What Realtors and mortgage brokers really need is a |
| "one size fits all" situations. | | | | single solution that automatically analyzes alternatives |
| Here are the common options: | | | | for prospective clients and then creates a |
| - Accomplish a short sale to get out from under an | | | | professional listing presentation. This package should |
| upside-down property while minimizing damage to a | | | | include easily-explained backup data to satisfy |
| homeowners credit score. | | | | analytical homeowners, plus easily-understood graphs |
| - Take advantage of loan modification opportunities. | | | | and charts for "touchy-feely" personalities. And it |
| Either refinance or leverage government and lender | | | | must be easy to use, allowing real estate |
| programs to reduce a homeowner's loan principle or | | | | professionals to just enter numbers and instantly see |
| monthly payment on a permanent or temporary | | | | results already formatted into a killer presentation. |
| basis. | | | | Moreover, this solution must accommodate "what if" |
| - Another option is to rent out the home to support | | | | questions, providing instantaneous answers that allow |
| a prospective client's move to a new area, hoping | | | | real estate professionals to smoothly overcome sales |
| that eventually their equity will recover to a | | | | obstacles and close new business. Searching the |
| break-even point...or even create a profitable sales | | | | Internet found only one solution that satisfies this |
| situation. | | | | criteria - Home Decision Wizard. |
| - Or how about doing a short sale, renting for a | | | | Will the best course of action for a prospective client |
| couple of years while the ex-homeowner's credit is | | | | always be a short sale or loan modification? No. |
| repaired, and then buying a new home at a much | | | | Sometimes, homeowners are better off just |
| lower price? | | | | continuing to pay their existing mortgage or turning |
| - And sometimes simply letting the property go into | | | | their home into a rental and relocating to a new city |
| foreclosure may be the best answer. | | | | where the economy is improving. But even in these |
| Whoa! This is complex stuff. How are we expected | | | | cases, guess who will eventually get a listing, loan |
| to sort all this out? It is easy to envision real estate | | | | application, or referrals from family and friends down |
| agents and mortgage brokers spending hours | | | | the road? In this world, "what goes around comes |
| developing spreadsheets or using cash-flow analysis | | | | around. |
| software to find answers...if they have the skills and | | | | |