Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010

Short-sale training widespread

Realtors along the Grand Strand and throughout the country are rushing to get a new certification in short sales and foreclosures to keep up with changes in the real estate market since the downturn.

A short sale is when a seller tries to avoid foreclosure by negotiating with the lender to sell the property for less than the amount owed on the mortgage. Short sales and foreclosures have increased in the economic downturn as falling home prices and rising unemployment have made it difficult for homeowners to make their mortgage payments.

The short sale and foreclosure resource certification has taken off since it was launched by the National Association of Realtors in November. The association expects that 20,000 people will be certified by this weekend.

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  Real estate sales have been increasing during the past six months, but so have the proportion of short sales or foreclosures.

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  Up until this year, the association had monthly membership lunches with short speeches, but this year it opted to transition to having meetings every other month with two mini conferences in the year, said Laura Crowther, the association's CEO.

  "It really brings them some good quality education," she said. "I think right now our agents are really hungry for that."

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  Sam Hassell of Coldwell Banker Real Estate's Garden City Beach office and Pete Bine , director of retail for Myrtle Beach-based Tradd Commercial, have received the National Association of Realtors Short Sales and Foreclosure Resource certification.

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  Holly Markt and Jennifer Neumann of Coldwell Banker Chicora Real Estate have earned the Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource certification from the National Association of Realtors.

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"That is definitely a national trend," said Walter Molony, a spokesman for the association. "It is quite a national phenomena. We have people all over the country and it just started a few months ago."

He said Realtors were looking for information on how to deal with those distressed properties as more customers expressed interest, so the certification was developed.

To obtain the certification, Realtors mustcomplete a six-hour, in-person course and three online seminars. Attendance at the past few classes at the Coastal Carolinas Association of Realtors has been strong, said Laura Crowther, the association's CEO.

"A lot of people are just coming out to determine 'what else can I learn about short sales, are the short sales transactions for me,'" she said.

The association also has offered several additional programs such as an audio conference this week, which drew more than 80 real estate agents and others to listen to representatives from Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Freddie Mac discuss short sales.

"Because of the market, our folks are finding a need to get the designation," Crowther said. "It certainly helps them understand the process better."

Sam Hassell, a Realtor at Coldwell Banker Chicora who moved to the Grand Strand in the past year, said he got the certification because short sales will continue to be part of the market, and he needed to know more about them.

The classes taught him the basics and that he has more to learn because every bank has its own way of handling short sales.

"At this particular point there isn't a Realtor out there that couldn't gain something from learning as much as they can about this," he said. "It's something that we're going to need in the day-to-day going forward."

Mike Childs, a Realtor with the Watermark Real Estate Group, agrees that knowledge about short sales is important, but he got certified for a different reason.

"It's useful to have the certification in our marketing," he said. "A lot of our clients are asking 'are you certified, are you knowledgeable?'"

Childs has been working with distressed properties as an investor for years so he was familiar with most of the information presented in the classes.

Still, he found the certification beneficial.

"I found it useful," he said. "Any information, any training, any update is always useful."