Online Kentucky Real Estate Classes

It seems you can’t turn on the TV or listen to the radio without hearing about the stock market going down due to credit and liquidity issues. In laymen terms that means more loans going bad or into default and banks not lending money as easily as they did in the past if someone has any credit issues. I’m not a fortune teller and can’t say for sure what will happen in the future, but I’ve decided to create a list of things real estate agents could do to protect themselves in any market.

One thing you should always keep in mind is that just because credit is not as easy to get as it once was, it doesn’t mean everyone stops buying real estate. It does mean Kentucky real estate agents might have to be more creative and sellers in Kentucky and elsewhere might need to entertain lowering prices or maybe providing incentives or offering some type of partial owner financing to sell their property.

All real estate is local so national news stories about loans going bad may not be reflective of what’s happening in your area. Prices are always determined by local supply and demand and I’ve said this before, but the more bad things that happen in some of the really hot real estate markets, the better it is for real estate agents in Kentucky because more people are convinced that selling their home in Florida, California, Nevada and moving to the Midwest is the smart financial move. Even if prices drop 25% in those areas, most sellers will still make money because they bought at much lower prices and they will still have plenty of money to buy a very nice home in Kentucky.

Here’s a list of ten (10) things real estate agents (or potential agents) in Kentucky can do right now to increase their business regardless of what happens with lenders/loans going bad.

1. Learn more about credit, credit scoring, and lending guidelines so you’ll be better prepared to advise your clients and customers about specific loans.
2. Consider getting a Kentucky Auction License in case some sellers want or need to sell their property quickly.
3. Consider doing property management in addition to sales- If homeowners can’t sell for an acceptable price, they may need to rent the property and the agent can collect property management fees.
4. Try to locate sellers who are willing to finance part of the transaction or at least bring up the issue during the listing presentation to see if they would be in a position (or at least would consider it) if owner financing becomes necessary.
5. Try to locate local “investors’ who may have money available to lend in certain situations.
6. Investigate local and/or state special assistance programs for home buyers and advertise those programs in other states.
7. Develop relationships with local bankers who may be in charge of selling any homes they receive back through foreclosures.
8. Keep track of local companies that may be relocating employees- If the economy turns south, larger companies tend to consolidate operations/close plants. If a plant closes, that provides listing opportunities while if a plant in your area picks up jobs from another plant shutdown, that provides relocation opportunities with buyers who are transferred.
9. Visit the foreclosure/master commissioner sales to meet all the investors in your community. Also, visit all auction sales in your community to help gauge demand and to see how many buyers are bidding on property so you can take information back to your sellers when repricing is needed.

Work with motivated people- I can sound like a broken record on this issue, but this advice is the same today as it was 10 years ago and it will be the same 10 years from now. Work with motivated people. If a consumer needs to buy or sell, then focus all your efforts on helping that consumer. A consumer that wants to buy or sell will likely sit on the fence especially during times of uncertainty because buyers think prices will come down further and sellers think that prices will eventually go back up. The only thing real estate agents doing with these people is waste their time trying to convince them otherwise. I’m reminded of old Chinese proverb.

A “bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” or as I like to say,

“A motivated buyer or seller who needs to buy or sell property is worth working with while everyone else is just too “needy” to deal with.”

Todd (Renegade) Thornton