Real Estate and Technology news for agents,brokers

BrokerIPTV: Today, we are talking with Sean Zweifel. He is the owner of Denver Home Rescue and Sean, welcome to the show.

Sean Zweifel: Thanks sir.

BrokerIPTV: Tell me about Denver Home Rescue. What is it? What do you do?

Sean Zweifel: What do we do Dan, well, Denver Home Rescue is a short sale company, also a workout company. So, we find people that are facing foreclosure, meet with them, and discuss what options we might have for them. Either they want to stay in their home or we do a short sale and help them list it and get it moved so they do avoid foreclosure.

BrokerIPTV: What's the workout part?

Sean Zweifel: The workout is stay in their home.

BrokerIPTV: Stay in their home?

Sean Zweifel: We will negotiate, re-negotiate the debt with the lender to make sure they stay in their house.

BrokerIPTV: How does that go? It goes pretty well?

Sean Zweifel: It does well. We have done over 30 homes. We have saved over 30 homes.

BrokerIPTV: I am going to stay with that for just a moment.

Sean Zweifel: Okay.

BrokerIPTV: Because I know in the early part of when this was all going on, banks were not terribly responsive to working out some type of an arrangement with people.

Sean Zweifel: Correct.

BrokerIPTV: Are they now?

Sean Zweifel: They are getting a little better. They understand that they would rather keep the homeowner in their house, so, they dont lose that product, either the short sale or the REO property.

BrokerIPTV: So, they actually take your phone call?

Sean Zweifel: They do. We have the staff too, we are up four or five levels higher.

BrokerIPTV: Okay.

Sean Zweifel: So, we are not dealing with customer service people in NDR or anything like that. We are working with higher ups.

BrokerIPTV: All right. Now, I have heard a lot of warnings from the real estate commission about third party companies.

Sean Zweifel: Yes.

BrokerIPTV: Who are doing predatory type of business on people who are in a tough spot and they are trying to crack down on that. Your thoughts on those companies and how your company is different?

Sean Zweifel: Our company is different again. We will go in and talk with them and see what is their best solution. If they want to list the home, we do a traditional short sale and we tell them it is just like a sale. They still have control and we will make the money off the commission and that angle of it. We are not going in there to lowball the property and then do a double close and those companies that do that, it just sets them up for that homeowner to have a bigger deficiency.

BrokerIPTV: How about tax implications?

Sean Zweifel: Okay.

BrokerIPTV: Okay? So, I sell my house short, the bank, the mortgage company foregoes, will save $20000 of what I owed, thats coming back to me that I got to pay taxes on, correct?

Sean Zweifel: Not any more.

BrokerIPTV: No?

Sean Zweifel: The Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007

BrokerIPTV: Okay.

Sean Zweifel: Excludes primary owners. So, what that does is the banks don't 1099, they can't 1099 you. Get a good CPA, you can get in there and not have to pay the taxes on that difference anymore; that was just passed this year.

BrokerIPTV: How many people do you estimate are going short sale right now?

Sean Zweifel: Last month, the lady that handles our short sales said Countrywide has an average of 400 short hit sales a day hit their desk.

BrokerIPTV: 400 a day?

Sean Zweifel: A day.

BrokerIPTV: They can't possibly have the people or the infrastructure to handle that.

Sean Zweifel: They can't and thats the problem; thats maybe the minuses. They are overwhelmed and they are understaffed and they dont have the infrastructure to handle all the short sales and thats where everybody gets frustrated.

BrokerIPTV: Sean, great information. We are going to tackle the buying side next. I appreciate you being here.

Sean Zweifel: Thanks sir.

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