Distressed properties marketing system and method

A computerized system and method is presented that allows selling agents to market a listing agent's distressed property listings even though the selling agents work for a different broker than the listing agent. The owner of the property may restrict the selling agents that may market their property. In one embodiment, the owner selects a qualified lender, and the pool of selling agents who may market that property is limited to selling agents who are associated in the computerized system with the qualified lender. The system allows selling agents to schedule open houses for distressed properties listed by the listing agent, with the system preventing two selling agents from scheduling open houses that conflict with one another. The system tracks the marketing activity of agents, which can be used to suggest listing agents to owners, or to restrict the ability of selling agents to market properties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present application relates to the field of automated systems that assist in the marketing of real estate properties. More particularly, the described embodiments relate to computerized systems that allowed shared marketing of distressed properties between real estate agents working for different brokers.

SUMMARY

One embodiment of the present invention includes a computerized system where a bank or other seller has one or more distressed properties that they wish to sell. Traditionally, the owner will list their properties with one or more listing brokerages, with each brokerage only allowing agents affiliated with that brokerage to market their properties. With the present invention, the owner instructs their listing agent to allow certain agents (known as the “selling agents”) to market the properties. In one described embodiment, the owner has the option to control the pool of selling agents who are allowed to market the owner's properties.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Sale of Distressed Properties

When a homeowner falls behind on their mortgage, the lender holding the mortgage may begin foreclosure proceedings. When a house has entered foreclosure, the lender has given notice to the homeowner that unless the mortgage payments are brought up to date, the lender will auction off the property in order to raise money for the repayment of the loan. If the foreclosure auction fails to raise sufficient funds to pay of the outstanding debt on the mortgage loan, the lender will usually retain ownership of the property. These lender or bank-owned properties are often referred to as Real Estate Owned (or REO) properties. The lender typically will sell their REO properties through normal real estate channels by hiring a listing real estate agent to handle the sale of the properties.

As an alternative to entering the foreclosure process, the lender may negotiate for the homeowner to sell the home in a short sale. In a short sale, the homeowner attempts to sell their property for less than the outstanding amount on the mortgage. The proceeds of the sale are then remitted to the mortgage holding lending institution.

Because banks have particular requirements for how their REO and short sale properties (collectively referred to as “distressed properties”) are sold, these entities generally prefer that the sales be handled by listing brokers familiar with the process. Recently, because decreasing home values have caused an increase in home foreclosures, many banks have developed a large inventory of REO and other distressed properties. While all of these properties can be listed through a listing agency or brokerage specializing in distressed properties, the sheer volume of such properties often means that the listing agent has insufficient time to individually market each of the properties that they have listed. The embodiments of the present invention described below assist banks and other owners of distressed properties get their properties sold by increasing the marketing that is performed for each property. Furthermore, these embodiments help build a pool of potential buyers for the distressed properties owned by the financial institution.

Basic Configuration

FIG. 1is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention, showing a computerized system10for facilitating communication and business relationships between the various parties involved in the marketing and sale of real property. The computerized system10is designed to work with a listing agent20, a selling agent30, a mortgage lender or loan officer40, a potential buyer of the real estate50, and the owner60of the real estate. In addition to these participants, the system10could also allow interaction with additional parties as well. For instance, properties involved in a short sale often have second mortgages, mechanics lines, homeowner association liens, and other lien holders with claims on the properties. The owners60of these properties will often designate an experienced counselor62to negotiate the removal of these liens and assist the owner in the short sale of the property. These counselors62may use the system10to help the owner60get the property in condition to sell and also to assist the owner60of a particular property in their use of the system10. Furthermore, where the owner60is an individual property owner involved in a short sale, the system10may also provide an interface for the mortgage holder64to utilize the system10to track the marketing efforts made in connection with their properties. The mortgage holder64may be an investor that provided or purchased the mortgage loan, or a loan servicing organization that handles the mortgage for the loan owner. Note that while this document discusses the security interest on a home as a “mortgage,” this term should be read broadly to include other similar financial instruments such as a deed of trust.

In some jurisdictions, a distinction is made between an agent who is licensed to sell real estate and a broker who is allowed to operate their own real estate brokerage and hire additional agents to help sell real estate. For example, most MLS organizations require that their participants be real estate brokers, with agents subscribing to the MLS listing data through their relationship with a broker. Often, a broker will hire numerous agents, with the agents within one brokerage frequently working together to assist one another in the marketing and selling of properties listed through that the brokerage. In the block diagram ofFIG. 1, the listing agent20is shown as belonging to a listing brokerage22, while the selling agent30is shown as belonging to a different, selling brokerage32. While it is not required that the listing and selling brokerages22,32be separate, one of the advantages of this embodiment of the invention is that it allows selling agents30from a completely different brokerage32to market properties listed by the listing agent20. As shown inFIG. 1, the lender40will usually work with a lending institution42.

In some embodiments the computerized system10is operating in conjunction with an institutional brokerage72, which may have one or more affiliated brokerage agents70. This institutional brokerage72is a fully function real estate brokerage, and the agents70affiliated with this brokerage72are licensed to list and sell real estate property. The institutional brokerage72is different from the listing brokerage22and the selling brokerage32in that the computerized system10is either run by the institutional brokerage72or by an affiliated corporate entity.

The computerized system10includes a set of instructions and interfaces embodied on a computer readable medium for execution on a digital processor. One example is a computer program12stored on a non-transitory, tangible memory device14, such as a hard drive, RAM, PROM, flash memory, or some other form of programmable, physical memory. The computer system10also includes at least one processor16for operating the computer program. For example, the processor could be a microprocessor manufactured by Intel Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif., or Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif. Alternatively, the computerized system10could be a network of computers all operating according to the instructions of the computer program12. The various parties communicate with the computerized system10through a wide area network such as the Internet. This could be accomplished by using the computer program12to operate a web server, which requires the parties to access the program through a web browser operating on a local computing device attached to the Internet. The various parties identify themselves to the web server through a log-in process, and the web server presents to the browser an interface that is specific to the user logging in.

Implementation of System10

The computerized system10is capable of storing information about all of the parties that use the system10. In the preferred embodiment, this information is stored in a database110operating on one or more server computers100, as shown inFIG. 2. The information about the parties can be stored in pre-defined fields in a database table (or database objects in an object-oriented database environment) within the database110.FIG. 2shows the database with tables or objects for buyers112, selling agents114, listing agents116, properties118, owners120, lenders122, and loan officers124. Relationships between these entities112-124are represented inFIG. 2using crow's foot notation. Although not shown as separate database entities inFIG. 2, the database110also includes information about the listing brokerages22employing the listing agents20, the selling brokerages32employing the selling agents30, and the lending institutions42employing the loan officers40.

The database110can keep track of the fact that owners120are related to properties118. The owners120can hire listing agents116to list an individual property118. As explained below, selling agents114can also become associated with properties118in the database110by agreeing to assist in the marketing of those properties118. The marketing of the properties may include the placing of advertisements in newspapers and online (such as in the Craigslist.org website), the inclusion of the properties in a printed publication, and the holding of open houses. In one embodiment, the owner120can select a qualified lender122. Preference for selling agents114associated with the qualified lender122can be given for properties118owned by a particular owner120. One way to associated a selling agent114and a lender122is to associate the lender122with a plurality of loan officers124, and then associate each selling agent with one of the loan officers124. Alternatively, this association can be directly between a selling agent114and a lender122. In one embodiment, selling agents114that are marketing the property118can also market to individual buyers112that are considering the purchase of that property118. With the aid of the server computers100and the system database110, such marketing to buyers112can take place through system10.

One benefit of using the database110is that the system10is able to track how each party uses the system10in the marketing of the properties118. Steps taken by a selling agent114or a listing agent116in relation to a property118can be recorded and shared with the other parties interested in that property118. In this way, notes input into the system about a property118by a selling agent114may be immediately viewable by a listing agent116, and vise versa. Furthermore, the listing agent116, owner120, or other interested party can track the marketing activities performed by each of the selling agents114marketing a property118to ensure that the property118is being properly promoted.

In addition, the database110is able to keep track of purchase transactions made by buyers112. This allows the system database110to also track commission fees that may be due as a result of relationship between the listing agent and the selling agent. The tracking of transactions and commission fees is shown as a single entity126in database110. This should not be taken to indicate that this data would in fact be implemented as a single database table or object, but merely to indicate that one or more database entities are created within database110to track this information. Furthermore, none of the entities shown within database110inFIG. 5should be considered to show actual implementation details of the database110, since it is well within the scope of the art to implement this type of data using a variety of entity architectures.

The database110is used by a web server130operating on one or more of the server computers100to generate the various interfaces used by the system10. In particular, web programming140exists that define how to create a buyer interface142, an agent interface144, a lender interface146, and an owner interface148using the data in the database110. This programming140allows the web server130to transmit over the World Wide Web150a buyer interface162that can be seen by a browser operating on a computer160for the benefit of a buyer20. Similarly, the web server130can manage an agent interface172on a browser operating on an agent computer170, a lender interface182on a browser operating on a lender computer180, and an owner interface192operating on an owner computer190. The computer160-190can be traditional personal computers, or can be any other type of computing device capable of presenting a web-based interface including a smart phone or a tablet or netbook computer.

Method

The computerized system10as implemented in database110is used to implement the method200as shown in the flowchart ofFIG. 3. The method200starts at step202, with the system10providing the owner60(through the owner interface192) a list of listing agents20that are qualified to handle distressed properties in a particular geographic area. This list of agents20would be especially useful for owners60of a single property that are working with their mortgage holder to offer the property for sale in a short sale. History has shown that when professionals inexperienced with these transactions handle short sale listings, potential sales transactions have a high rate of failure. Consequently, the provision of a list of listing agents experienced in these types of transactions to individual homeowners is highly beneficial to both the homeowners and the mortgage holders. The displaying of qualified, distressed property listing agents in step202is also useful to owners that hold multiple properties, such as banks or other financial institutions owning REO properties. It is important for these owners to ensure that their listing agents20can handle a large volume of distressed properties simultaneously.

In order to best sell these types of distressed properties, the listing agents20should be familiar with the intricacies of handling a short sale or the sale of other distressed properties. In addition, it is important that the listing agent20be familiar with the marketplace for that property, including the selling details of similar properties in that neighborhood. The present invention can track numerous potential listing agents20by experience in selling distressed properties, experience in the property's neighborhood, and experience with a particular price and style of property. In addition, because the system10tracks the effectiveness of the marketing efforts undertaking to sell each property, the system10is able to also track the ability of individual listing agents20to obtain offers on the properties that they have listed. Step202examines all of this information, and then presents the list of qualified listing agents60based on these criteria. The owner60then selects the listing agent20at step204. In so selecting the listing agent20, the owner60is also instructing the listing agent20that the property should be available for marketing by selling agents30. In most cases, the owner60will desire that selling agents30market their property because it will increase the marketing that can take place on the property and therefore should decrease the amount of time it takes to sell the property.

Upon receiving the listing, the listing agent20will formally accept the listing at step206. After accepting the listing, the listing agent20also enters details about the property using the agent interface172. In one embodiment, the system10is operated in conjunction with an institutional brokerage72. In accepting the listing of the property, the listing agent20also acknowledges that the referral for this property came through the system10of the institutional brokerage72. As the institutional brokerage72is a fully functional real estate brokerage, it is eligible to receive a referral fee for referrals to listing agents20. In accepting the listing of the property at step206, the listing agent20may further agree to share a referral fee with the institutional brokerage72running the system10.

In step208, the listing agent20uses the agent interface172to indicate that selling agents30are eligible to market the listed property. The system10is designed to track numerous selling agents30who are interested in marketing the properties listed by others. The goal of the system10is to ensure that the pool of selling agents30for a particular property is limited to those who i) understand the intricacies of selling distressed properties, ii) have agreed that they are not the listing agent and have permission from the listing agent to perform marketing activities as applicable for local, state and national rules, regulations, statutes and laws, and iii) are approved by the owner60. Owners60may be particular about which selling agents30may market their property given the complexity of completing a distressed property purchase transaction. For example, the buyers50of these properties will usually need to secure mortgage financing to complete the purchase. In most cases, the owner60wants to be assured that accepted purchase offers are backed by adequate financing. Far too often, house sales fall apart because the mortgage lender that was financing the purchase is unable to complete the transaction. In the last few years, hundreds of mortgage-related lenders have ceased operations, which has affected thousands of house sale transactions.

To limit such issues, many owners60desire to have potential purchasers use mortgage providers that are familiar to the owner60. The disclosed embodiment is designed to encourage potential buyers to engage with one of these known lenders (referred to as “qualified lenders”) in part by limiting the buyer's agents that are allowed to market the homes. Referring back toFIG. 2, the database110facilitates this by associating the owner120with one or more qualified lenders122. The qualified lender122selected by the owner120uses the computerized system10to associate their loan officers124with particular real estate agents114. In its use of system10, the owner120is allowed to require that only selling agents114that are linked through the database110to loan officers124of the qualified lender122are able to use the system10to market properties provided by that owner60. Alternatively, the database110can be designed to associate selling agents114with the qualified lender122in ways other than through the lender's individual loan officers124, such as through a direct association from selling agent records114and the lender record122. The incorporated patent applications identified above describe several computerized systems in which agents are associated with loan officers, any of which could be used to implement this system.

Returning toFIG. 3, the method200examines the owner's preference in step210. If the owner desires, the system10will present in step212the opportunity to market the property to selling agents30regardless of their affiliation with a particular lender122in the database110. Of course, the system10would still ensure that the selling agents30have agreed to the appropriate contractual obligations, are qualified to sell distressed properties, and are skilled in marketing properties in the appropriate geographic location. Alternatively, the owner's preference may indicate a desire to limit the pool of selling agents30to those associated with their qualified lender40. If so, the method advances to step214in which the owner identifies their qualified lender40. This identification occurs through use of the owner's interface192, and can take place even before the property is listed with the listing agent20. The system10will then limit the opportunity to market the property to qualified selling agents30associated with the identified lender40in the database110.

The appropriate selling agents30are then presented the opportunity to view properties that they are allowed to market (in steps212and216). This opportunity will be presented in the agent interface172at step218. Both the listing agent20and the selling agent30are able to use the agent interface172since the agent interface is customized for each agent20,30according to their login account. One unique aspect of the agent interface172is that selling agents30are able to view properties available for marketing on the system10, and then schedule a selected property for advertising or for an open house using an automated calendaring system. When multiple selling agents30are authorized to market a property, the system10will ensure that the scheduled open houses or other marketing events will not overlap, which is shown in step220of method200.

The selling agent30will then hold the open house or other marketing activity at step222. After the open house is completed, the selling agent30is required to enter the results of the open house back into the system10(step224). This allows the success of the sales activities to be measured through statistics that are then reported out at step226. Statistics that can be reported out include the number of open houses or other marketing activities for each property, the number of prospective purchasers who attended the open house, the number of offers made on the property as a result of the marketing activities, the number of prospective purchasers who have been entered into the system10as a result of such marketing (see below), and the mortgage application status of those prospective purchasers. These statistics can be provided to any of the parties with access to the system10, including owners60, counselors62, mortgage holders64, the loan officer40and the management of the lending institution42, the selling agents30and the selling brokerage management32, and the listing agents20and the listing brokerage management22.

In step224, the selling agent30would also enter information into the system10about potential buyers50that attended the open house. This allows the selling agent30to market their services and also to market other distressed properties to those buyers50. Such marketing efforts are extremely valuable to the selling agents30, as they allow the selling agent30to service a buyer50and earn a commission even if those buyers are not interested in purchasing the particular property shown at that open house. Buyers50entered into the system10are associated with their selling agent30in the database110, and through that association also with a particular loan officer40that works with that selling agent30. Once entered and authorized to use the system10, buyers50may use the system10to search for real property information through the buyer interface162. By using that interface162, the buyer50will also be exposed to the name and contact information of both the selling agent30that entered them into the system and the qualified lender's loan officer50that is affiliated with that agent30.

Frequently, a financial institution that is selling property will give special incentives to a buyer50if the buyer finances their home purchase with their qualified lender40. For instance, some banks will refund two points at closing if the purchase of one of their REO properties is financed through their affiliated or preferred financing institution. To take full advantage of this opportunity, the buyer interface162allows the buyer50to search for all REO properties (and related short sales) that are owned by the owner60and then see the search results on a custom map or list showing the locations of these properties (step228). To track which owner60should be used for a particular buyer112, the system can track which open house the buyer50attended when they were entered into the database110, and then limit searches to other properties owned by the owner60of that open house property (the buyer's associated owner). The buyer interface162may also allow the buyer50to search for all REO or distressed properties regardless of the particular owner60of those properties. Even when such searches are permitted, the system10could be designed to prevent buyers from narrowing their search for only those REO properties owned by a particular bank or other owner that is different from their associated owner60.

Upon the sale of a property to a buyer50, the system10can help track the splitting of commissions and referral fees at step230. For example, a referral fee may be owed to the institutional brokerage72that referred the owner60to the listing agent20through system10. Furthermore, the commission may be split between the listing agent20and the selling agent30. This information is tracked in the database110and shared with the parties at step228.

The system10may include the institutional brokerage agents70that work for the institutional brokerage72within the list of listing agents20presented in step202and available for selection in step204. Furthermore, the system10may allow the institutional brokerage agents70to select properties for marketing as selling agents30in step218. In some embodiments, preference may even be granted to institutional brokerage agents70over agents from other brokerages22,32in these steps202,218. Such arrangements would allow the institutional brokerage72to collect a higher percentage of the real estate commissioned earned on the sale of a property.

The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the above description. Numerous modifications and variations will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Since such modifications are possible, the invention is not to be limited to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described. Rather, the present invention should be limited only by the following claims.