Are you using Trulia to generate business ?

Using Trulia.com to generate more business

When we first started blogging on Active Rain, we immediately saw the importance of having a presence and profile on other sites as well. We learned a lot about this through subscribing to blogs by Bill Gassett and Justin Smith (2 highly recommended blogs to subsribe to) .

One of the sites that we have had success with is Trulia.com . Trulia has become one of the premier consumer sites - it has a wealth of information for consumers and it also provides tremendous resources for realtors too such as setting up a profile, adding listings, having a blog and much much more. There is also a lot of info regarding statistics and analytics. If you have not checked it out, do so !

In any event, as an example, we just picked up a listing in our area due to our answering consumer's questions on Trulia voices. Trulia voices has an extensive network of questions from consumers and answers from real estate pros. It was on this forum that a seller contacted us to list her property in Port Richmond. She was looking for something specific in an agent and found it in The Somers Team ! Not only that, we sold her property for her in less than 45 days !
In addition, we have also received several leads from Trulia due to our presence on their site. With that in mind, we of course will continue to post blog entries there (see our Trulia blog ) as well as answering questions ! It looks like we have answered 311 questions ! Wow - I guess we have a lot of answers !!!

If you are interested in buying or selling real estate in the Philadelphia area, contact Chris and Stephanie Somers at 215-400-2612 or thesomersteam@yahoo.com .

Philadelphia Real Estate - Chris and Stephanie Somers

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Short Sale Specialists in Philadelphia - Plan and Prepare for Success !

Short Sale Specialists in Phildelphia

It is amazing how many realtors and sellers are listing properties just based on what is owed on the property at prices that are unrealistic and will never sell. A recent short sale we did was in Northern Liberties where 3 other realtors had the listing before us and just listed it hoping to get a sale to clear title ! When we met with the seller, we realized it was a perfect candidate for a short sale and got the property sold within 30 days !!!

If you are not familiar with short sales, refer to our previous post "What is a short sale ? "

When you do a short sale it is imperative to plan ahead and prepare in the very beginnning to have all your documents and paperwork in order. As a seller, it is critical to gather the information as quickly as possilbe to give to your realtor.

When we take a short sale listing, here is a basic checklist of items that we will do in the very beginning:

1. Discuss the situation with the seller in terms of their hardship. We need to know this when we communicate with their lender. We will also have the seller write a hardship letter in the first week of us taking the listing.

2. Have a title company do a mortgage and judgement search in the very beginning. We need to know as soon as possible what other types of liens we are dealing with besides the mortgage.

3. Authorization Letter - No bank will speak to any realtor without authorization. We will have the seller sign these letters when we take the listing.

4. Order the payoff - Often times, what is owed is more than the seller thinks due to interest and penalties.

5. Gather the info (bank statements, tax returns, W-2s, etc). Most banks will have on their website or in their short sale info, the documents that are needed for the short sale package.

6. Marketing - make sure in the MLS that is clearly communicated to the buyers agents and buyers that their agreement is subject to short sale approval. That way there is no confusion later on... it is important to try to get the best buyer for the deal... one who is flexible on settlement as sometimes once you get the approval, it needs to settle fast. Other times (as often is the case) there will be a delay so it is important that if need be, the buyer can wait an extra 30 to 60 days before closing.

There are other items to plan and prepare for. At least with this preliminary list, one can increase the chances of success right from the very beginning !

If you are a seller in Philadelphia who thinks that this may be the best option for you, contact Chris and Stephanie Somers at 215-400-2612 or thesomersteam@yahoo.com

Philadelphia Real Estate - Chris and Stephanie Somers

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