Foreclosure property listings became the jumping board for success for two brokerage owners in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Initially, these two brokers, who own their own real estate brokerage firms, sold new homes and nondistressed existing homes. But as they worked through real estate deals day in and day out long before the housing boom, they realized they can reach their profit goals faster if they focus on foreclosures.
They studied the foreclosure process long before it was known by others and they developed relationships with foreclosing lenders long before these lenders were approached by others.
When foreclosure activity peaked in 2009, they were already immersed in foreclosure deals. Last year, they conquered the Washtenaw County housing market, which includes Ann Arbor, and posted more than $15 million each in total sales. The dollar value of their total sales put them among the ten top performing members of the Ann Arbor Area Board of Realtors in 2009.
These two brokers are Clark Brown of Ypsilanti and Susan Fecteau of Ann Arbor.
To enhance their foreclosure property listings, Fecteau and Brown not only focused on Washtenaw; they also went outside of the county and looked for foreclosures to list. It was not surprising that they also topped the number of units sold among AAABOR members. Clark sold 210 housing units while Fecteau sold 182 units.
Despite the diminishing income of realtors and brokers due to falling foreclosure prices, Fecteau says that she exerts the same effort as she does on transactions earning her a $5,000 commission. Oftentimes, negotiations for foreclosure sales require more effort than conventional sales as foreclosures involve distant banks, short sales and homeowners in desperate situations.
Brown said his team sold 220 homes in 2009, but he explained that his total earnings were far below his earnings in 2005 when the average price of the homes he sold was $175,000. Last year, Brown said he sold a lot of homes priced in the $10,000 price range. House prices in Washtenaw County are among the lowest in Michigan. He says he would be very happy if he hits an average listing price of $70,000 this year.
Nevertheless, Brown and Fecteau showed how foreclosure property listings can become avenues for success in their chosen careers. These listings will again help them in 2010 as the first month of the year posted 113 homes in foreclosure in Washtenaw, the highest for the month of January in nine years.
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