Bryan Knight\’s Blog

Las Vegas is leading the nation with the number of homes going into foreclosure status. Here is a list of myths or misunderstandings that Las Vegas homeowners have about foreclosure properties.

Myth 1: I can still save my home even after it has gone to foreclosure auction and has been bought back bay the bank.

Truth: While I won’t say that is a totally impossible I have yet to read about or hear about anyone being able to save their home after the foreclosure sale has been completed.

Myth 2: I had someone I know make an offer on my home as a short sale and even though they performed the foreclosure sale they are still working on the offer.

Truth: If your home has gone to foreclosure sale, that means that what ever offers the bank were working on were most likely declined. After foreclosure sale your offer would be null and void being that you (the previous homeowner) no longer legally own the property, thus you can’t legally sell a property that you don’t own.

Myth 3: After the foreclosure sale, I checked the tax records and I’m still listed as the owner, so I still do legally own my property.

Truth: In the state of Nevada, it is not a requirement that a transaction be recorded with the county  assesor office for a transaction to be legally binding. So on the trustee sale date, when the bank buys back the property, they are the legal owners of the property from that day forward whether it’s been recorded at the Clark county assessors office or not.

Bryan Knight, REO specialist in Las Vegas, NV 1-800-977-0959

As a Las Vegas REO agent, I see many homeowners that are still in there homes after a trustee sale has been completed believing that some attorney or negotiation company is still going to “save me from foreclosure”. I just had this situation last week with an occupant named Arlene. I got the assignment that had just gone to foreclosure auction the day before and been bought back by the bank. I went to the property to check occupancy, found it to still be occupied by the former owner Arlene. She stated that she has a attorney that is negotiating with the bank to allow her to keep her house and that she was going to buy her house back from the bank.

Let me say that I can’t count how many times that I’ve heard prior owners state something along these lines. The problem is to date, I have never personally experienced, nor have known anyone that has experienced anyone being able to “save” their home after it’s already gone to foreclosure auction. Now, laws due vary on a state to state level. Some states have redemption periods, Nevada does not. Some states may have some type of loophole to let you keep your home, to my knowledge and experience Nevada does not.

So, back to Arlene, she declined to talk to me because her “attorney” told her not to and for her to wait for something official from her “lender”. Here’s the problem. Once your house has gone through the foreclosure process and been auctioned off and bought back by the bank, you previous “lender” has no further to communicate with you. The file at the lender level is transferred from the loss mitigation department to the REO department. Those two departments in most cases don’t even speak with each other. They are separate and have two totally different focuses. The REO departments only focus is to get that property turned around, bank on the market and sold as quickly as possible for the most amount of dollars that they can reasonably get. So to the REO department, you (the previous homeowner) are impeding them from being able to do their job by continuing to occupy the property. They have no motivation to allow you to stay in property and waste time with hopes of doing something that is virtually impossible to do.

I told Arlene that being that she didn’t want to speak to me anymore that I was going to have to report back to the bank that she has declined her Cash for Keys offer and recommend that they proceed with a formal eviction. She stated that “No I didn’t say that I’ve declined the Cash for Keys offer, but I don’t want to speak to you. I’m going to wait for something official from the bank.” I tried to explain to her that I am the banks official representative and that she wouldn’t be contact by anyone else from the bank, but she didn’t believe me and ended the conversation. That said, I reported back to the bank that the occupant declined the CFK (Cash for Keys) offer and within an hour I was CC’d on an email from the bank to the eviction attorney to proceed with an immediate eviction.

Arlene had her “attorney” call me and he was the fast / slick talking guy that was talking about the H4H (Hope for homeowner) program that that I had better read up on it because it was going to put all of us REO agents out of business. I asked him had he ever “saved” someones home AFTER it had already been sold back to the bank and he was silent. Then he state “Well I’m working like three dozen of these cases.” He said “I know that you guys get arthorized 3500 dollars from the bank and offer the occupant 500 dollars and then pocket the difference.” When I told him that that’s not the way it works he said “Yes it does, I see it all the time!” This is simply false.

I wanted to write about  this because this “attorney” is going have Arlene (single mom with 3 kids) get evicted out of her house with no money and absolutely nothing to show for it. He has her brainwashed to listen to no one but him. I could have gotten her a good bit of monies to cover her moving expenses and she would have had a guaranteed set amount of time to move out without having to worry about the sheriff showing up at the door and saying it’s time to go we’re changing the locks and you don’t have time to get your stuff out!

Don’t let this happen to you. Educate yourself. If you’re in this situation or something similar to it prepare yourself before the  trustee sale date to move. Have another place lined up to stay and have the funds available to move. Even if you’re offered Cash for Keys, you don’t get those funds until you’ve already moved out and the property has been checked by the bank representative to make sure that all personal property inside and out has been removed and that it’s left in a broom swept condition.

For more information on Las Vegas Foreclosures dont hesitate to call us at 1-800-977-0959

Bryan Knight REO specialist in Las Vegas, NV

So being an REO agent that sells properties directly from and for the banks, it  is amazing me that tons of people are not jumping in and buying up all of these great deals that I see coming across my desk on a daily basis!!!! I can’t believe that people are still sitting on the sidelines waiting…………….for what I don’t know. This is called a buyer’s market……………so BUY!!! It’s not called a waiter’s market…..or a wait and see market……or a sit on the fence market. Think about it. You never want to do what the “herd” is doing. Right now the “herd” is all sitting on the fence, listening to the media and being scared to buy. I’m seeing the truly savvy investors back in the market snapping up properties left and right. Why do the masses wait until it’s too late to get in and the best deals to get back into the market with the rest of the masses!!! Right now there’s very little competition on the properties, but you’ll wait until everybody wants to buy real estate again before you feel “comfortable” enough to jump back in the market and by again. Then those very same people are competing with you and bidding up the prices!!!

Millionaire make their money by going against what the masses do. When the media says don’t buy…….BUY. When the media is saying it’s time to buy………that’s went you DON’T want to buy because EVERYBODY is going to be trying to buy!!!! That’s when you want to sell!!!!

This isn’t rocket science. If you’re interested in picking up some great deals in Las Vegas real estate or real estate anywhere around the country (we have a network or real estate professionals all across the country that we can connect you with) then give us a call at 1-800-977-0959

Bryan Knight, REO investment specialist in Las Vegas, NV 702-845-8435

If you’re in this situation, hopefully this post will give you some insight on what to expect next. For a little background I’m not only approaching this from the standpoint of an REO agent, but from a person that has had a home foreclosed in past due to divorce. Please note that this is tailored for states with foreclosure process like Nevada those due non-judicial foreclosures with no redemption periods. When your home goes to “sale” tomorrow on the “courthouse steps”, it will either be bought by a 3rd party buyer, or no one will meet the banks asking price and the home goes back to the bank and becomes what’s called an REO (Real Estate Owned). From this point timeframes can differ greatly depending on what lender holds you note. It can be as quick as the very next day that the property is turned over to the REO department and assigned to a local REO agent to get the property sold. But I’ve also seen some property take up to six months (in rare instances) to be assigned to an REO agent. In any case, if you know that your home has gone to sale, you must be prepared to vacate your property immediately. From the sale date, you are no longer the legal owner of the property and are considered a trespasser on the banks property (that’s just part of deal when you originally signed that mortgage note). By the time that your home has gone to sale, you’ve most likely had half a year (6 months) of living in the property payment free and unless you totally loss all forms of income, you should have had  time to save up some money to be able to afford security deposit and first month™s rent for some alternative place to stay. Now most banks will actually pay you a minimal amount of  money to get ALL of your personal belongings out of the property and to leave it in a broom swept condition. You can expect anywhere from 150-1000 dollars (depending on the local area and what bank it is) for what is call Cash for Keys. It’s the banks way of giving some assistance with your move out and to insure that you won’t damage the property on the  way out. The bank will want you out of the property within the next 14 day (typically, this can vary). Once a property is assigned to an REO agent that agent has 24 hours to verify occupancy and report back to the bank. If the property is still occupied the agent has to attempt to make contact with the occupants to work out a cash for keys agreement. At the same time, the bank also begins eviction proceedings as to not waste time in getting possession of the property and getting it sold. (remember that’s the goal of the bank, to get that bad dept off of their books as fast as possible for the most amount of money it can recoup You can expect either a knock on the door or a letter left at the property from the REO agent stating something to fact that the property has been foreclosed and basically that you have to get out and that you can do it the easy way (with a friendly cash for keys agreement) or the hard way (ignoring the letter or knock or being hostile towards the agent and being locked out by the sheriff with all your personal belongings placed in storage (that you are going to have to pay the fees for the get back) and possibly being auctioned off if not claimed) I strongly suggest taking the cash for keys agreement. On the move out date agreed upon in the cash for keys agreement, the agent will show up with the check, and will do a walk through the property. IF YOU HAVE NOT REMOVED ALL OF YOUR PERSONAL PROPERTY (ALL BOXES, CLOTHES, ETC) TO INCLUDE THE GARAGE AND ANY STORAGE SHEDS IN THE BACKYARD ETC. THE AGENT CAN NOT GIVE YOU THE CHECK!!! Let me explain why. The bank only puts out money once. If the agent allows you to leave personal property in the property and gives you the check, then he is going either have to move the rest of the property out himself (which isn™t going to happen!!) or pay someone to come and get it out. But when the agent submits the bill  to the bank for reimbursement, the bank WILL NOT pay the agent back because they’ve already paid YOU (the occupant) to remove all personal property. Hope that makes sense. It’s not the agent being mean. It’s you not holding up your end of the barging. In a perfect world the property is clean; you get your check and are on your merry way. Everyone™s happy. Hope this helps. Remember I’ve been there.  Bryan Knight of The Knight Group, Real Estate / REO Specialist in Las Vegas, NV 702-845-8435

Ok, new update to the tale. Since part 2 we’ve closed the two that were in escrow and have 3 more in escrow. I’ve picked up another big client that’s I’ve been looking to work with for awhile now (Servicing 3 REO clients now)!! It’s been a huge learning curve, but now I’ve got a handle on whole thing. I’ve formed a corporation and I’ve hired a full time assistant to help with the administrative portion of the business. The administrative side is HUGE in REO and any one person that has any kind of significant numbers of REO listings simply cannot keep up with the demands of the business. From initial assignment you’ve got 24 hours to verify occupancy and update the client, then if occupied to start working on CFK (Cash for Keys) negotiations. If vacant, that’s when the real work starts. Ordering rekeys, contractor bids, termite reports, sales cleanings, getting water, power, and gas turned on (in your name of course), tracking down the HOA and paying up to 6 months of back missed payments and putting it in your name to keep it current, oh and you can’t forget your ever important BPO (one of my clients requires original photos of 4 active and 4 sold comps). Then every week (or other week depending on the client) you’re doing your asset inspections.  Also most of my clients require an electronic lockbox be placed on property along with the mechanical lockbox and that the showing reports are sent to the client twice a month.  Then the offers start rolling in. Any usually they’ll be multiple offers on any property in half decent condition and aggressive pricing. So you’ve got to input all the offers and keep all of the buyer’s agents updated as to the status of their offers. Now take this process and multiply it times 10-20-30-40 properties and you can see that it’s much too much for one person to keep up with without dropping the ball in some area.

The moral of the story………….be prepared!!!!

This side of the business fascinates me and I love it!!

Bryan Knight of The Knight Group, Real Estate/REO Specialist in Las Vegas, NV 702-845-8435

Now, let’s move on to the REO listing tale. After I really started doing a high number of BPO’s, I signed up for a company that charges you to sign up. They used RES.net for a portal and I had to pay to sign up for that site as well. I was really skeptical about spending the money, but within 6 weeks, I had my first listing from them after doing only a handful of BPO’s for them. (I learned afterward however that they also use a 3^rd party valuation company that I had been working with for months, so they had been seeing my name on BPO’s coming through) Now I have 7 properties listed with them 5 in escrow. About two weeks after I got my first listing from that pay company, I also got a listing from what seemed like out of the blue from a non-pay asset management company. (I found out that they also used a 3^rd party valuation company and had been seeing my name on their BPO’s for months.) I now have 4 listings with them 2 in escrow.

I’ve also been doing BPO’s for another company and was invited to an invitation only all day training event for the valuation company and its two sister asset management companies!!! Attending the training gets you bumped up on their list and puts you next in line for getting REO listings from them. I’m telling you it pays to do good quality BPO’s.

 Go to Part 3

Bryan Knight REO specialist in Las Vegas, NV 702-845-8435

I wanted to do something that I wish I had found when I was looking for information about getting into the REO business. I’m going to chronicle my journey of becoming a Las Vegas REO agent.

Ok to begin with about a year ago, I got started really looking hard at how to get my foot in the door of the Las Vegas REO world. About a year and a half ago myself and one of my business associates were introduced to a website that was a pay site that had some REO training, certification program and most importantly, a list of over 100 REO/BPO websites with links to their sign up pages to begin the arduous task of getting signed up to do BPO valuations and list REO properties. My business associate got right on top of getting signed up for the different companies. I, of course, took about six months to get on top of getting signed up for the sites.   So, I got on top of it and started to do some opinions of price for a handful of companies. I had to work hard to do a good job on both the price opinions and turn times and also to continue to prospect for new business from different companies. The numbers of BPO’s performed per month started to pick up towards the end of 2007 and really started hitting in January of 2008. Since then, I’ve consistently performed over 100 BPO’s per month and continued to add more accounts. That continues on till this very day. I found that once people saw me doing it, they wanted to know how to get into it. With the high number of agents getting out of the business, there’s a huge pool of agents that’s looking for a way to stay connected to the business. To do good BPO’s, you really have to understand the local market and one has to question how well the average agent that’s forced to leave the business really understands the market. I also found out that after most agents get signed up and do a handful of BPO’s and get a couple hundred dollars, they figure out that it’s not for them and think it’s a waste of time. If you’re just in it for the money, you will burn out. I learned that BPO’s aren’t just something to do for a quick buck like many think. You can really hurt a REO listing agent, or a bank that looking to make non-performing acquisitions, by giving a bad opinion of price on your BPO.

Bryan Knight in Las Vegas, NV

Go to Part 2

As more and more Las Vegas homes fall prey to the big, bad foreclosure monster, lenders have become more and more apt to working with homeowners and real estate professionals to successfully negotiate a short sale. I have been doing short sales for the past years and half and have had the opportunity to watch lenders loosen their short sale criteria and began to accept more and more short sales. This is great news for Las Vegas homeowners and gives them another real alternative to just walking away from their homes and letting it go to foreclosure. Even better are the laws enacted by congress to waive the responsibly for paying taxes on the difference between what the property was sold for and what was owed (on your primary residence).  Short selling is now the way to go to rid yourself of financial hardships. If you have an adjustable rate mortgage that is adjusting causing financial stress, or if you’re suffering any other financial hardship that is making it hard to make ends meet and are in danger of getting behind on your house payments, give serious consideration to short selling the property and salvaging your credit. You can typically purchase another home with 20% down and perfect payment history after 12 months and with 0% down after 36 months.

Don’t listen to the rumors; call us today for a no obligation short sale consultation.

If you’d like to have a short sale consultation with the Knight Group, contact Bryan Knight at 702-845-8435, or bknight@kw.com .

Bryan Knight, real estate consultant in Las Vegas, Nevada

Help me help you. Tell me. What do you as a consumer want from a real estate website? What can make this website more beneficial to you? Your input is welcome.

Bryan Knight, Real Estate Consultant in Las Vegas, NV 702-845-8435

Click here to search all Las Vegas properties for sale!!!

My partner and I have entered the arena of bulk REO ( Real Estate Owned / Foreclosures ), NPN ( Non Performing Notes ), and MTN ( Medium Term Note )purchasing. It’s been interested to say the least. My business partner has actually been working to put a deal together for over six months. Everybody and their mother is trying to get into this game, leading to a lot of talk from different sources, stating that they’re one away from the source of product or that they’re direct to the buyer. Most of these claims usually are found to be false. In the end, more and more people end up added into the deal, totally diluting the take home amount for all involved.

Second, when a potential deal does come across the table, all of a sudden all the testosterone involved in the deal, usually by the rookies that have never even closed a deal before, flares up and they get greedy. I’ve watched numerous times where people get so caught up with short minded thinking and try to break the bank on one deal that they end up squabbling over the money they’ll earn and end up killing the whole deal. It’s ridiculous. They should just sign their NCNDs and step back out of the way and let buyer and seller talk and get the deal done.

In any case, if anyone is or has serious buyers (50 Million minimum, No maximum) and is at least DIRECT to the buyer (no daisy chains) then contact us at 702-845-8435 or email at bknight@kw.com . We are direct to 7 of eleven compilers here in the U.S.

Bryan Knight in Las Vegas, NV Vist www.buy-las-vegas.com/ for all your real estate needs. Click to search for all Las Vegas properties for sale!!!!