DSNews delivers stories, ideas, links, companies, people, events, and videos impacting the mortgage default servicing industry.
Issue link: http://digital.dsnews.com/i/84661
» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM BEST PRACTICES Confronting the Storm By Margaret Kelly move toward it than for those who run from it. This is how Gayle Henderson explains what she and other action-oriented real estate agents have experienced during the most devastating housing downturn in decades. In 2007, Henderson was an award-winning A storm passes more quickly for those who luxury specialist in Scottsdale, Arizona. She was reaching the goals she'd always envisioned for her business, and even building a personal portfolio of investment properties for herself. But the storm that rolled in changed every- thing. Henderson, an avid reader, remembers a chilling detail in a November 2007 article that caught her attention and shook her confidence. "I read that the leveraging at major Wall business slipping for the first time in her then 15-year career. "First a little slide, and then a little more," she says. Henderson moved quickly, shifting her expectations and focus, and investing in educa- tion that would prove to be critical. Her resolve to attend distressed property conferences, get the best training possible, and connect with default servicing professionals helped her avoid a bigger slide. She reinvented her business, holding on to the foundation but running directly toward the new challenge. Dozens of families—their short sales closed expertly—are glad that she did. Henderson has built a reputation as a Street financial institutions was so high that it would take only a 3 percent change in their portfolio for the house of cards to come down," says Henderson, a veteran top-producing agent with RE/MAX Excalibur in Scottsdale. "It was like a cold glass of water in my face." Within months of reading that assertion, Henderson noticed her largely referral-based leading agent in the distressed property arena, along with a 97 percent closing rate on short sales. She's pleased to work with many lend- ers and servicers in addressing her market's distressed inventory. She isn't alone. Nationally, there have been 4 million distressed properties sold with 4 million more to go, and real estate agents have played a major role throughout the process. Gayle Henderson of RE/MAX Excalibur in Scottsdale, Arizona Cows and Buffaloes Real estate agents separated into two camps when the market first plunged down- ward: those who were stunned into inaction, and those who were jolted into action. There's no suspense in the outcome. Most agents 85