| Don Khoury |
| Associate Broker |
| 540-341-8926 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
Bargain Hunters Seek Buying Tips from Classes Bargain-hunters are creating a demand for classes in buying pre-foreclosures, REOs, and auctions. "My classes have been full; I'm getting calls all the time," says Marki Lemons, a Chicago real estate agent who for several years has conducted periodic, daylong classroom sessions on foreclosures at her Realty office. National Foreclosure Institute, which offers three-day courses around the country that cost $2,995, attracts students with its full-page newspaper ads that invite people to hear how course author Ann Goldschmidt “got started in real estate and how her first deal landed her an easy $10,000.” National Foreclosure Institute seminars are operated through a contractual relationship with Telligenix, a Florida-based company that oversees the marketing for a number of real estate investment courses. T.J. McKinney, who owns Illinois Foreclosure Listing Service, says he averages about 70 students in his classes. As the rate of foreclosing filings rise, he says, so do the number of inquiries for people wanting to take his class. "There's more interest, absolutely," McKinney says. "Everybody is talking about foreclosures. ... I give them a realistic picture, that they're not going to get a house for 40 cents on the dollar. If you can get a house in the pre-foreclosure process [before the home is auctioned], the reality is maybe you're looking at a 15 percent discount" from retail. Source: Chicago Tribune, Mary Umberger (10/05/07) and San Diego Union Tribune, Lori Weisberg and Emmet Pierce (09/16/07) |
|||||