Keys To Success in Buying and Selling Distressed Real Property

By: John Smith

How to Maximize Your Success in Buying and Selling DistressedReal Property© Ariel Weissberg, 2006, All Rights Reserved

Today, more than ever before, we are bombarded with "get-rich-quick" schemes in the media. In this modern electronic age of 24/7 where the separation between work and pleasure is blurred by constant demands for higher and more immediate productivity, the allure of these so-called business opportunities with the promise of more money with less work is the modern "cry of the sirens": even the most sophisticated among us are drawn toward the dream of chucking the "rat race" in favor of working as your own boss, making huge dollars. Today, one of the most heavily advertised opportunities on the internet, (seemingly second only to the spam avalanche for increased sexual performance) is buying and selling distressed real property. Here, supposedly free lists of foreclosures are marketed with the "promise" that even the uninitiated in real estate investment can profit greatly. If you are looking for quick solutions, click on the "Viagra" advertising, because speculating in distressed real property, while potentially very profitable, requires much more knowledge and attention to detail than advertised. So, before you yell, "Take This Job and Shove It," and delve into the list of properties in foreclosure for "buy low, sell high" opportunities, this article will provide you with some practical suggestions for avoiding a bad investment experience with distressed real property, potentially leading to your own financial distress.

The first step toward successfully investing in distressed real property is understanding the nature of the problems associated with the ownership, use or occupancy that make the real property distressed. The most common problem leading to distress is a foreclosure. Foreclosures involve liens. Liens are an interest in real property held by a creditor, consensually or non-consensually, often to secure an obligation of the owner or a prior owner of the property. In a foreclosure, a holder of a consensual lien (mortgage) or a non-consensual lien (involving creditors: mechanics lien, broker's lien, tax lien, municipal lien or judgment lien) is seeking to extinguish the interests of subordinate lien creditors (those with lesser rights) and rights of the owner of the real property; and to sell the real property at a judicial sale to satisfy the indebtedness securing the foreclosing lien claimant's lien. Most states, like Illinois, require real property foreclosures through a lawsuit, with the owner and all other interest holders given an opportunity to be heard in court. Mortgage foreclosure laws are harsh, but generally provide the property owners an opportunity to reinstate a mortgage on residential property or to pay-off the indebtedness securing the mortgage, prior to the loss of the property through judicial sale. Foreclosures often involve complicated issues of law and fact, and this is especially so when the owner of the property seeks to stop a foreclosure through the filing of a bankruptcy petition.Numerous "problems," other than foreclosures, can cause real property to be "distressed." Any of the following situations, some which do not involve the financial distress or creditor issues of the property owner, can cause property to be "distressed," and thus present a great investment opportunity for the knowledgeable investor: (a) serious disagreements between owners of the real property, including stemming from a divorce or dissolution of a business organization related to the real property; (b) environmental contamination of the property; (c) unpaid real estate taxes ; (d) the inability to obtain municipal authority for the use or proposed use of the property; (e) real property involved in a bankruptcy case; (f) landlord-tenant disputes; (g) probate and inheritance problems; (h) building, fire and other municipal code violations; (i) disputes arising over the rights of non-owners to enter or use the property through easements or licenses.

While the truism of "location, location, location" might apply to real property in general, the axiom for distressed property is "homework, homework, homework." This represents the second and most important step in successfully investing in distressed real property. Investigating distressed property includes the typical "due diligence" required for non-distressed property, plus an exhaustive, on-going review of all legal, business and financial matters that are causing, complicating or mitigating the distress of the property. This investigation requires much more than just the typical fact-gathering. Distressed property can involve a veritable minefield of complicated legal and financial problems, which, at first glance, might make the purchase price attractive, but could lead to great expense after the purchase.In all business acquisitions, a good, fluid and flexible strategy is very important. This is especially true in acquiring distressed property because the purchase of "distressed" real property often does not involve a willing seller, at least at the early stages of "distress." And, as the investor approaches the latter stages of distress, when the owner's consent is no longer or less of an issue, or the owner is more desperate and commensurately more amenable to a sale, the competition among interested buyers increases dramatically. Timing is critical: positions and motivations change quickly with distressed property. An investor in distressed property must have the ability to close a deal quickly, especially where there is competition for the property. To be a "player" in this arena, "Cash is King": you need immediate access to money to close, and you cannot delay the deal with financing contingencies or otherwise involving your prospective lenders. This is especially true with foreclosures where the sale is an auction.

Because so many aspects of distressed property involve technical legal issues, sharing the responsibility of pre-sale investigation and formulating an acquisition strategy with a competent lawyer is critical to avoiding pitfalls and increasing the likelihood of success. Having ready access to qualified real estate professionals as advisors is another important step in successfully investing in distressed property, where the investor must rely on a qualified lawyer to assist in maneuvering through the potential mine fields. But, in this age of legal specialization, it is difficult to find a lawyer that has sufficient breadth of experience in all of the important areas of real estate litigation and development, bankruptcy and insolvency, mortgages, credit facilities, leasing, brokerage and construction law relating to residential, commercial and industrial properties. The search for a qualified lawyer is as important as the search for qualified properties. Seeking advice from real estate professionals, coupled with the investor's own investigation is advisable. But, the savvy investor should not substitute his own "hands-on" investigation, without the assistance of a qualified lawyer, in the hope of saving on professional fees. In the end, this could lead to a very costly mistake.

So, go ahead and download that list of foreclosures from the internet! There are great opportunities in buying and selling distressed real properties in this economy, especially when interest rates are low and there are qualified buyers available to "flip" the properties to realize a quick profit. And remember, with good professional assistance and careful investigation, the risks of investing in distressed properties can be greatly minimized with substantial returns on your investment.

© 2003-2006 Weissberg and Associates, Ltd. All Rights Reserved

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Recruiting Software VS CRM (Customer Relationship Management)

By: John Smith
What is CRM? If I buy CRM software will I be a better recruiter?Should recruiting software have CRM features? Do recruiting software vendors include CRM in their product?I think CRM is a lot of smoke created by some very good marketing people who could sell ice to Eskimos.

A common definition for CRM is “The process of using information to find, secure and keep customers. The people, events, and questions associated with marketing, sales, and service”. Yikes! I thought that is what recruiting is?

Why am I on such a soap box? Because I talk to about 50 different recruiters and recruitment firm owners a week and every once in a while I get asked does this software contain CRM. A few years back when the question was asked I was at a loss for words. I had no idea what they were talking about. I was terribly concerned that after 25 years in the recruiting industry putting in 10 hours a day seven days a week I had completely missed something and an entire process went right over my head.

So I went to work reading and studying everything I could find on CRM and came to the conclusion that CRM and recruiting software are one and the same. If your recruiting software does not have the characteristics defined by CRM then you do not have recruiting software.
First of all, who are the customers of an executive recruiter? Candidates and clients are! As any recruiter knows the product of a recruiter is also the customer, the candidate, one unique characteristic of the recruiting industry.

Let’s go back to that CRM definition above. “The process of using information to find, secure and keep customers”. Your recruiting software must be used to find and track candidates and clients. Once found the software has to keep them available to you through periodic contact.
Next, “The people, events and questions associated with marketing, sales and service”. Ok, if your recruiting software cannot help you market to different demographics of clients and candidates then why are you using it? What are you using to market to clients and candidates? Do you have a separate system for this? Do you have a separate database for marketing to clients, a separate database for marketing to candidates? Do candidates sometimes become clients? Do clients sometimes become candidates? Is candidate John Smith repeated in the client Database and then again in a separate marketing system? How silly these questions are! If you answer yes to any of the above I suggest you reconsider your whole approach to recruiting.
And if you have this separation how in the world are you ever going to keep track of the events and questions? Perhaps if they are all separate I can sell you business idiot consolidation software that will pull all these desperate systems together for you.

So I will answer the leading questions. If I buy CRM software will I be a better recruiter? No, because you’re an idiot for having recruiting software that is not also CRM. Should recruiting software have CRM features? Of course, CRM and recruiting software are one and the same thing. Do recruiting software vendors include CRM in their product? Yes, if they don’t they are not a recruiting software vendor.

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Computer Viruses - A Risk Worth Taking

By Niall Roche

If you've never been the victim of a computer virus, you may think that all of the uproar over these nasty little programs is making much ado out of nothing. You may even be thinking that computer security experts and anti-virus companies are using scare tactics to sell anti-virus software. After all, the bigger the problem, the more software people buy. Today, the anti-virus business is worth several billion dollars and it shows no sign of slowing down.

So, with all of this money at risk, you are certainly justified in wondering whether computer viruses really are as big a problem as the industry says they are.

Unfortunately, the answer is that they absolutely are. If you get a virus, you could actually lose your money, your identity and your computer's hard drive. With new viruses being developed constantly, the problem continues to grow. While many viruses are more annoying than destructive, even a "harmless" virus can use up valuable resources. The worst viruses can spread worldwide in a few days and wreak unbelievable havoc. The damage from one infamous virus can mean billions of dollars in lost business opportunities and damaged equipment.

With all of this bad news, is there any good news for computer users? Take this quick risk quiz:

1. Does your computer have antivirus software installed on it?
If you can say yes, you are much less a risk than people that don't have antivirus software. If you say no, than it is only a matter of time until you find out about viruses personally.

2. Does your computer have a firewall installed on it? If your response is yes again, you can relax a bit. You're doing all you can do software wise to keep your computer safe from a deadly virus. If you say no again, you are leaving your computer wide open for an attack.
Despite all of the media attention paid to antivirus software, people still have the "It can't happen to me." mentality. They laugh off warnings to protect their computers and say that they are working just fine. They think that because they never actually initiate a file download or send and receive files with friends, they are safe. A few months go by and suddenly they can't get their computers to boot up forever and then when they finally do start, they plod along at a snail's pace.

To make things worse, quite a few of these computer users who leave their computers unprotected are actually taking classes for computer related careers. They are completely at sea when they have to try to repair the damage caused by a virus filled computer. Perhaps a basic class on computer care and repair is in order!

You are probably wondering how viruses develop anyway. Hackers are the people creating these nasty bugs, right? Actually, while some hackers may decide to create computer viruses, most of them spend all of their waking hours attempting to break in to the most secure and top secret systems they can find. People who write viruses are people with an ax to grind. They want to send a wake up message or show people that they are superior to them. Today, many people are concerned that computer viruses could be used as a terrorist weapon.

If you do get a computer virus, will you lose everything on your hard drive? It actually is rare for this type of virus to spread very fast or far. Annoying viruses that stop you from starting your computer or using windows or those that mail spoof emails to your entire email address book are much more common. The hard drive is usually recoverable when the computer has one of these viruses.

What about your financial and personal information? Are viruses really likely to swipe them from the computer. Absolutely. This is a common reason that viruses are created and spread.
Is there any way to keep your computer virus free? While no anti-virus software is foolproof, installing one of these programs can provide some protection. While there are anti-virus software programs that provide better protection, any of them will help somewhat. Even free anti-virus programs are actually able to ward off at least some viruses.

After reading this information on viruses and anti-virus software, you have probably resolved to get protection for your computer right away. If so, you won't be sorry. Dealing with viruses after you are infected is frustrating and time consuming. It is so much easier to keep a disaster from happening instead of trying to reconstruct a ton of missing data and worry about identity or financial thefts after the fact.

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