Like a Trojan

USA Today's feature headline yesterday, "Foreclosures take toll on mental health" stirs us with a new and burgeoning dimension to the foreclosure problem.

Imagine the anxieties that plague a family resigned to this impending nightmare.

What stresses befall them as they box up what few possession they have left and move on?

What chronic issues ensue when they are out of their home with no credit or cash to get themselves back into a new one?

What courses though the psyche of foreclosed Americans when they see real estate agents in tour buses and loud speakers rummaging through the detritus of their broken lives?

As Brian pointed out his a recent post, Can you find a positive spin on this?, the danger facing real estate amid this crisis is being short-sold on get rich quick schemes and loose practices when far grander opportunities should prevail. They are there, right under our noses. All we need to do is take a whiff. 

Real estate's customer is in trouble. And they can use a few superheroes. Committed to protecting and serving those careening toward disaster as well as those who have fallen victim to it.

How hard would it be for brokerages to build a preventative foreclosure department dedicated to supplying services for those facing crisis? Mortgage counseling. Financial counseling. Or plain old counseling - you know - someone in the industry to talk to? To vent. A shoulder to cry on and then possibly lean on for strength.

Prevention solutions are not new. Companies like Trojan and Lifestyles rose to the occasion amid the AIDS crisis, publishing manuals on safety, donating their products and creating massive awareness campaigns. They fused assistance and education with their legacy product and came out the other side stronger for it.

It was good for business - but it was also just good.

This is the charge for real estate. To educate. To seek out the high road and wrap a benevolent sheath around the problem.

If I were a broker, I'd mandate foreclosure training for agents -- not just on how to sell them, but how to help the people that called them home.

I urge the powers of real estate to organize their armed agent forces into a Salvation Army of service providers, because right now, in plain view of your marketplace -- your customers -- is a disjointed band of foreclosure mercenaries.

You have a golden opportunity to emerge a hero. How 'bout it?

- Davison

Comments

[Mike Mueller]

Marc - That's a heavy burden to put on a Brokerage, but that's also how we felt.

We started a short sale negotiation division because we saw that nobody was looking out for the homeowner. Now we work only for Listing Agents that have their past clients best interest at heart.

I'm with you!

[Kevin Boer]

You hit the nail on the head. Consumer education is what it's all about. I have a scant four articles on my blog about foreclosures and short sales, but they represent easily 3% of my search traffic -- clear sign that there's a hunger out there for a better understanding of this market.

[Sean OToole]

Couldn't agree more, I think the challenge lies in making choices between the short and long term.

This industry has repeatedly supported - strike that - pushed hard for the short term view.

Congresses passing of the $250k/$500k capital gains exclusion helped create this foreclosure mess by encouraging folks to use homes for speculation rather than shelter that was paid off by retirement. Good for the "economy" as it created lots of transactions increasing GDP, good for Realtors and lenders - but without question as should now be plain to see it is at the expense of homeowners.

I'm now hearing reports of strong sales in quite a few areas... do you know what the most popular loan product is? A 5/1 interest only ARM, again putting folks in homes they can't traditionally afford and putting the return of a strong housing market at further risk for years.

Helping consumers make the right decision now, may take the courage to tell them to rent, or to walk away from a home you sold them. I'm not saying no one should buy - I personally think if you find a home you love, plan to stay in for a while, and can afford, there is NO bad time to buy. As an investor I'd say the same about properties that cash flow at a reasonable cap rate.

The point is that the best advice may not mean a commission today. That is an especially hard sacrifice to make when things are already slow. But I do believe in the long term it would give this industry the professional respect is desires.

Best,
Sean O'Toole
ForeclosureTruth.com
ForeclosureRadar.com

[Rich Rogala]

Excellent point. We need to provide information and services to give our clients what they need, whatever that may be. A great example of service that's 110%.