Boomer’s Blog

Josh Cantwell and partners Greg Clement and Jeff Watson have been working like maniacs to revise Strategic Real Estate Coach’s (SREC’s) Short Sale Manifesto and release an up-to-date condensed version of his innovative and influential ebook, aptly titled: The Short Sale Manifesto 2.0: The Revolution.

A lot has changed since March 2007 when the first Short Sale Manifesto was written and released to mark SREC’s initial launch. Way back then, the mortgage market and housing values were topping off but not yet plummeting. Sub-prime loans were drying out and demand for houses was only beginning to drop off.

Since that time Josh says, record-shattering foreclosure rates and plummeting housing values necessitate that real estate entrepreneurs who want to make tons of cash should deploy new strategies to build stronger businesses.

Man with a Mission
“I wrote this second version of The Short Sale Manifesto to provide more of a ‘meat and potatoes’ experience for new and experienced investors,” Josh says. “By reading both, you’ll have a macro and micro perspective that I believe accurately represents the short sale business.”

Josh really nails the essence of the deal in The Short Sale Manifesto 2.0: The Revolution. And he packs more crucial, intriguing and inspirational material into his 70 pages of text than I’ve received from paying for — and completing– expensive and time-consuming training seminars.

Inside the Real Estate Investor’s Brain
The information Josh shares in both free ebooks in his Manifesto series is so intuitive, and well-tailored to the real estate investor’s brain, it’s like it’s written by part entrepreneurial clairvoyant and part real estate visionary.

Short Sale Manifesto 2.0 provides a detailed outline to guide investors through the essential steps of the short sale process and how to use the latest strategies to build your own thriving real estate empire. Here are some of my favorite topics that Josh covers:

• How to do a short sale deal in current market conditions and what red flags to watch for;
• All the hottest techniques that the Strategic Real Estate Coach and students are using for referral-based marketing;
• The relationship between short sales and FICO scores;
• A concise explanation of why savvy short sale investors are avoiding Land Trusts;
• How short sale techniques are evolving – including a proven-effective option contract that’ll make your dream broker price opinion (BPO) deals a reality; and
• How to work with real estate agents and why developing these relationships will score you deals that your competition hasn’t yet even imagined.

Kevlar for Short Sale Investors
While Josh gives great guidance on the steps you need to take to make the deals happen — and keep a constant flow of new deals in your pipeline, Josh also tells you, in unembellished, plain English, all about the pitfalls you need to avoid.

If you only have 10 minutes to spend reading this ebook, check out the details Josh provides regarding the Top 9 Mistakes even the best real estate investors make and how you can avoid them. These investment fumbles include:

1. Paying too much for a property,
2. Underestimating the cost of repairs,
3. Neglecting to stage property,
4. Failure to build a workable buyers list,
5. Failure to secure private money,
6. Failure to plan multiple exit strategies,
7. Failure to focus on revenue producing activities,
8. Lack of a coherent system to organize your business, and my favorite,
9. Failure to implement an effective and consistent marketing strategy.

Some of these errors may be all too familiar, while some may be new to you, but in all cases, Josh offers clear strategies to protect your business and build wealth by keeping your wits — and your money — about you while you’re investing in short sale real estate.

Visit the Short Sale Manifesto 2.0 page now for a free download of this timely money-making and money-saving report. At these prices, you just can’t beat it! Stay tuned to this blog for the latest on SREC’s Special Giveaway Bonanza slated for Thursday at noon EDT.

This quick post is to let you know about a great couple of articles from Forbes regarding the politics and particulars surrounding the costs of home insurance in the top 10 most disaster-prone states in the U.S.

The biggest surprise for me here is that, due to government subsidies, it appears that some coastal properties in Florida are less expensive to insure than inland properties. Does anyone out there know if this is true?

In reading these articles, I also was interested to learn that, in states with lots of coastal area such as Maryland, thoughts about global warming play a role in bottom-line property insurance costs.

Are there any irregularities in your markets that have surprised you when it comes to insurance? If so, let us know about it.

Here is Forbes’ list of top 10 states for high home insurance prices along with their average annual insurance premiums:

1. Texas: $1,372,
2. Louisiana: $1,144,
3. Oklahoma: $1,030,
4. District of Columbia: $963,
5. Mississippi: $939,
6. Florida: $929,
7. California: $895,
8. Rhode Island: $849,
9. Alabama: $847, and
10. Kansas: $836.

Preston Ely tells me that his Web site crashed Wednesday night. No doubt his hardware buckled under the strain of the REI frenzy likely sparked by his second limited release of his “Probates By Preston” home study course.

According to Preston, aka “Disco Dan,” who bears a striking resemblance to Marge Simpson’s stalker “Disco Stu“), he sold more than 100 copies of the 987-copy release in the first 20 minutes of the course’s widely touted relaunch. (See my my blogs: “REI Action Alert: Probates by Preston Launches at Noon” or “Probates by Preston: Your Golden Ticket to Real Estate’s Secret Cash Factory” for details about Preston, his free ebook and his home study course.)

Because Preston’s beleaguered server believes in second chances, the site will resurrect promptly at noon EDT to sell off the 136 final remaining copies of “Probates By Preston.”

If you want a piece of Preston’s probate action, go to this site promptly at noon EDT, today, Aug. 15. Don’t immediately see what you’re looking for? Just refresh your screen to check out what Preston has to say about this second-chance offer.

You also can visit the “Probates By Preston” site to register for a spot on his waiting list in the event he decides to release the course a third time. But Preston assures me that if that ever happens, it’ll be at a much higher price point than the paltry $297 he’s currently charging.

The “Probates By Preston” sale ends when he’s sold all 987 copies, or at noon EDT on Aug. 20, whichever comes first.

When I wrote the first installment of this two-part Blog last week, I had no idea that more bank failures were so close on the horizon. But before we delve into my thoughts on steps you can take to protect your money, I thought a recap of recent events might help to inspire (if not incite) some of the procrastinators out there who’ve delayed the now urgent task of policing your deposits.

Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom

Federal regulators pulled the plug on another bank Friday, this one with nearly 30 branches in Arizona, California and Nevada. Today, Mutual of Omaha commenced with clean-up efforts by taking over deposits from First Heritage Bank of Newport Beach, its parent company, Arizona-based First National Bank Holding Co., and its spawns, First National Bank of Nevada and First National Bank of Arizona. The Phoenix Business Journal also reports that the Federal Deposit and Insurance Corp. (FDIC) will retain the banks’ real estate-plagued loan portfolios. Perhaps this will lighten the burden for Mutual of Omaha.

Insurance in an Unsure Time

As if we haven’t all heard the rumors, read the news and seen the red flags waving in the wind gusts produced by this financial storm, now is proving to be a better time than ever to examine your current level of FDIC protection and read up on other available opportunities to insure your deposits greater than $100,000.

Are your Deposits Earthquake Proof?

Amid the financial tremors in the banking industry, experts of every stripe are saying that if you’ve got deposits at any bank in excess of $100,000, your money is at risk. As we’ve all been learning in recent months, when it comes to insuring some of your weightiest deposits, some banks may be more equal than others. On this note, I would like to bring to your attention a great story MarketWatch ran in the wake of IndyMac’s demise. Here are some additional suggestions, observations and resources to help you to protect your money.

What Does FDIC Cover?

Here is the synopsis, but please don’t take my word for it, check with your bank and visit the FDIC Web site for the critical details.

• $100,000 for a single depositor,
• $200,000 for a joint account,
• $250,000 retirement accounts, with some exclusions and
• $100,000 for each owner of revocable trust accounts, if requirements are met.

The FDIC also provides separate insurance coverage for deposit accounts maintained in different categories of ownership such as joint accounts and revocable trust accounts. Make sure you’re clear on the regulations don’t hesitate to consult a financial professional if you’re not crystal-clear on what you’ve got and to what extent it is protected.

The $100,000 Question: Is your Bank Insured Beyond the FDIC?

Here are two examples of interesting approaches to insuring accounts beyond the FDIC’s scope. Unfortunately, only time will tell how well they hold water. Still, the opportunity to mingle convenience with your peace of mind is a rare one in financial planning. Depending on your situation and location, these options may be worth your second glance.

Spread your Wealth with CDARS

If your bank participates in Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service (CDARS) program, you can have up to $50 million dollars in Certificates of Deposit (CDs) along with the security the FDIC offers for your funds

With CDARS, our bank spreads the CDs out among enough other banks to ensure that the part of your money in each bank is under the FDIC limits. In other words, you get the benefit of having multiple bank accounts with less than $100,000 in each one — without the headache of opening, tracking and managing multiple accounts yourself.

Once you’ve identified which CDARS bank will give you the best rates, accessing the program is easy. All you have to do to participate is sign a document agreeing to allow the bank to spread your money around. CDARS says there are no additional fees to you. And you only get the one bank statement.
see which CDARS bank gives you the best rates.

Depositors Insurance Fund (DIF) Covers Massachusetts
Massachusetts requires its state-chartered savings banks to carry expanded insurance through the Depositors Insurance Fund (DIF), which covers all deposits over the FDIC’s limits, so depositors have had relatively little to worry about since 1934, when the program was first implemented.

This is great news for those of us who bank in the great Commonwealth, but the rest of us may have to try a little harder to protect our finances from the economy’s swelling potential to shove more financial institutions off the edge and into failure’s ominous abyss

Get Ahead of the REI Pack
I hope these posts help you to protect the wealth and retirement accounts I know you’ve worked so hard to achieve. Sign up my “What’s Working & What’s New” monthly and special reports and you’ll be among the first to learn about timely special reports like these, cutting-edge webinars and other developments in our world- the world of Real Estate Investing. Joining the community at GaryBoomershine.com is easy: just use the yellow fields at the right side of my GaryBoomershine.com home page or on the right side of the Boomer’s Blog’s main page. Like always, I pledge to never share your contact info with anyone or inundate you with useless messages.

I confess that I’ve never really gotten into computer games. In college, I lost friends to games like Quake and Doom. I was occasionally frightened by the way they became glassy-eyed, pale hermits in their darkened rooms, playing these games for hours on end.

Even then, slaying dragons and gunning down masked enemies just never seemed relevant to my life or my business. But with the current array of free on-line real estate investment-themed games available online, I may be at risk of developing my own secret addiction. Here are some of the best I’ve seen. If you know of more, please don’t hesitate to share them with the rest of us.

• One of my favorite REI-themed games, Price Me Now, is available through Zip Realty. The game is all about demonstrating your PropertyIQ, or knowledge of prevailing market home prices in various selected areas. By accurately guessing sales prices, players build their PropertyIQ points and can see how their scores compare to those of others.
• If flipping properties is more your style, Domania hosts Mansion: Impossible. This goal of this deceptively simple game is to buy and sell houses in a cartoon property market to buy a posh $10 million estate. It looks easier than it is, and is a fun exercise for testing your strategy and market timing.
• Flip That House! is a much more complex game that requires registration. Its developers call it: “The real estate cash flow trainer.” Success in this game starts with buying your first time home and doesn’t get any easier. Here, you have to build your real estate empire starting at the bottom and work your way up by dealing with hideous rentals, saving money, negotiating with mortgage brokers, rehabbing your flips, etc. Bad electrical, ruined carpets, leaking roofs, and faulty plumbing may make this game too realistic for many of us to enjoy recreationally, but as you persist, as in life, you’ll see hour portfolio improve.
• Though not available for Mac, Flip or Flop is a game download where you renovate homes, trying to eke out enough capital to save your Grandma’s home from the clutches of foreclosure at the hands of evil mortgage lenders.

I hope that these little amusements offer you a way enjoy your downtime while still keeping your eye on the real estate prize.

If you haven’t yet joined our community here at GaryBoomershine.com, please register now here, or using the yellow fields at the right side of my GaryBoomershine.com home page. Like always, I pledge to never share your contact info with anyone or inundate you with useless messages.

How about 20 Personal Money Machines? Machines That You Can Make Endless Withdrawals From So You Can Finally Buy What You Want, When You Want It?  Would you like to know where to get these wonderful Money Machines?

Lou Brown’s Street Smart Systems is bringing the first Real Estate Money Machine Exposition to Atlanta July 26, 2008.

For those of you who are not familiar with Lou Brown,  He is the creator of Street Smart Systems and author of 13 books, He will be teaching you how to create Your Own 24/7 Money Machine to pump out $20,000/month in positive cash flow.  This full day of training will equip you with valuable profit centers worth thousands of dollars on every deal that every investor should include in their business but few do.

This first time ever ONE DAY event is designed to teach you how to build your very own Real Estate Money Machine. Turn today’s so called “Down Market” into your most profitable year ever. “Millionaire Jump Start” (MJS) is three days of money making training condensed into one intense day.  This training is designed to allow both the novice investor as well as the sophisticated investor to benefit greatly.  This training focuses on Tried and True methods of the Street Smart System of Buying, Selling and Holding Real Estate to create instant income and long-term wealth.

Here’s a few of the items that will be covered:

Your Own Business Plan: You know you need one but will never get to it.   You’ll create your own right in class.  We even provide a custom manual for your own personal use.

• You’ll Understand the Buying Contract and Know How to Fill It Out: No more fear of the paperwork and a complete understanding of the protections and profit centers most investors have no clue about.
• You’ll Learn the Magic Words to Get Lenders to Lop Off Tens of Thousands of Dollars and Accept your Short Sell Offer: I will give you the script to say to the lender.
• You’ll Know What To Say To Get Money At 6% Interest Only And Zero Payments: Key questions you must answer for any private lender to get this bargain basement money.
• You’ll Learn The Magic Of Holding Property: How long-term wealth is really created and how you can create 20 social security checks legally.
• You’ll Understand Trusts and How to Do Them: We’ll do the paperwork in class so you can immediately protect your assets.

And Guess what. I will be there as the Founder and CEO of SalesteamLive Done-For-You Marketing to teach ‘Best Practices’ around marketing and increasing your Leads!

Seriously, this day will change your life with information that is not offered anywhere, by anyone at any price!  Come see-I’m sure you’ll agree!

PLUS: Be one of the first 100 to enroll and receive this incredible weekend event for only $99.00!  (Events like this are usually much more!)

Don’t waste another minute! Call 1-800-340-2144

Tell them “Gary Boomershine” sent you

NBA star Shaquille O’Neal is shopping a reality TV show based on his plans to invest in Orlando’s burgeoning foreclosure market and “make small profits” by selling the homes back to distressed homeowners with more affordable terms. In some state however, “foreclosure rescue” operations have been scrutinized by lawmakers or banned outright.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that the NBA legend cum real estate investor wants to build his legacy by televising his efforts to help homeowners facing foreclosure in Orlando’s troubled real estate markets in a show to be called “Shaq’s Big Save.” O’Neal’s Attorney, Mark NeJame and Realtor Curtis Cooper arranged for the star center to meet with members of Orlando City Hall this week to float the plans, which may also include an affordable-housing project.

Lawmakers Tackle Foreclosure Rescue Regulation
Florida is not yet among the ranks of states seeking to regulate the activity of real estate investors who profit as foreclosure consultants to distressed homeowners. Last year, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) reported that a dozen states had taken steps to actively regulate foreclosure transactions. These states include California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island.

This year, lawmakers in Oregon and Washington have expanded their regulatory scopes by passing comprehensive laws that regulate lending practices and place restrictions on property transactions as well as contracts between real estate investors and the distressed sellers. Analysts have predicted that regulation trend is likely to accelerate as foreclosure rates continue to rise. This week, the Associated Press reports that foreclosures were up 23 percent in Q1, over Q4 2007.

Shaq Points, Shoots at REI Basket
O’Neal has been dabbling in real estate investment with the fortune he’s amassed through his NBA contracts and product endorsements for some time. In 2006, he created the O’Neal Group, which specializes in commercial and residential development, and housing the $50 million real estate portfolio the athlete has been building throughout his lucrative professional basketball career.

The majority of his development interests to-date have been in Atlanta and New Jersey. In Florida, O’Neal’s holdings include car washes, strip malls, a slice of metro Miami, and a luxury high rise residential tower currently under construction in downtown Miami.

Although O’Neil started his NBA career with the Orlando Magic, he currently plays for the Phoenix Suns. The Orlando Sentinel reports that the star NBA center with a penchant for investing in real estate plans to someday retire to his Florida estate and possibly run for Sheriff of Orange County.

Remember the TV show “Get Smart!“about the bumbling spy who always got his man (and sometimes his woman) from the 1960s? There’s a remake slated for summer release as I type this. I read a great article in Wired magazine recently about what the CIA learned from the TV show. I was stunned to learn that the U.S. government drew inspiration from the show to create their own “cones of silence.”

After reading this article, I realized that I drew inspiration, at a very young age, from Smart’s reliance on Agent 13 (the spy who always seemed to be staked out in a U.S. Mail box) for stellar job performance. This may be what got me started in the business of targeted real estate marketing via direct U.S. mail with SalesTeamLive.

Soon, I started thinking about what real estate investors could learn from Maxwell Smart and what some of my friends might say if I asked them.

I imagine that:

• Sales Masters Richard Roop and Dan Doran might tout the spy’s expert negotiations skills and convince the evil enemy Kaos to lighten up, change sides and make a fortune doing it.
• Virtual Wholesaling Pro Cris Chico might say that he, like Maxwell Smart found his niche and is sticking to it.
• Total Market Master Ken Wade likely would likely give Smart kudos for always doing his research and never underestimating the cyclical nature of his enemies.
• I suspect that EasyHUD’s Chris Daigle could singlehandedly conquer the entire Kaos network using his Twitter-enabled shoe phone.
• Teamwork Lead System’s Andy Proper learned to take out a Craigslist ad for assasin bird dogs to handle his super spy assignments, then head for his pristine Hawaiian beach hide-out until the mission is complete.

Action-Packed Feature Stories This Week
What do you think? Or more importantly, what have you learned from Agent 86 that’s helped you to build your real estate business? For more details about what some of my friends have learned from Maxwell Smart, visit my Resources page. Look action-packed new features on Dan Doran, Richard Roop and more in store for you coming soon!

Please Join Us Now for“What’s Working and What’s New”
If you haven’t yet signed up for my “What’s Working and What’s New” free monthly REI report, please sign up ASAP to receive the latest issue this week. It’s easy and we promise to keep your data confidential, Just use the yellow field on the sight side of this page or on my GaryBoomershine.com home page. I think you’ll love the story on how the major lenders are streamlining the short sale process for stealth real estate investors. And as always, I promise to never share your info with anyone. Ever!

To explore the dynamics off what makes for a strong for sale by owner (FSBO ) market, MSN Real Estate asked Bert Sperling, founder of Sperling’s Best Places, to analyze the listings database of ForSaleByOwner.com, a national online FSBO marketplace. Sperling’s day job includes making millions for ranking cities based on livability and other factors.

There likely are several factors spurring FSBO activity in a growing number of metropolitan markets, Sperling says. In places such as Detroit and Florida cities where prices are taking a dive, homeowners may opt for an FSBO transaction because they’re unable to afford real estate agent commissions.

Sperling says that 2007 data show that Utah had almost twice the ForSaleByOwner.com activity as the next-most-active state, Florida. Provo, Utah, had the highest number of FSBO listings among all the U.S. metropolitan areas in his analysis.

In general, FSBO appears to be popular in markets that surged along with the boom and are experiencing rapid depreciation in the bust. Statistics also show that FSBO often is a more popular real estate selling strategy in regions with high Internet usage, such as the Northwest, and among sellers with higher levels of educational attainment.

Below is a list of the 20 hottest U.S. metropolitan FSBO markets and the corresponding number of FSBO listings per 100,000 members of the area’s population:

1. Provo-Orem, Utah: 72.15 listings
2. Wilmington, N.C.: 63.28 listings
3. Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, S.C.: 58.38 listings
4. Ogden-Clearfield, Utah: 56.19 listings
5. CapeCoral-Fort Myers, Fla.: 43.22 listings
6. Warner Robins, Ga.: 43.10 listings
7. Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield, Fla.: 43.02 listings
8. Panama City-Lynn Haven, Fla.: 42.39 listings
9. Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y.: 41.15 listings
10. Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Conn.: 40.01 listings
11. Lake County-Kenosha County, Wisc.: 39.44 listings
12. Punta Gorda, Fla.: 38.73 listings
13. Edison, N.J.: 37.14 listings
14. Logan, Utah: 37.06 listings
15. Auburn-Opelika, Ala.: 34.51 listings
16. Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.: 34.17 listings
17. Port St. Lucie-Fort Pierce, Fla.: 34.08 listings
18. Asheville, N.C.: 33.51 listings
19. Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.: 33.07 listings
20. Valdosta, Ga.: 32.27 listings

As the number of foreclosed homes continues to skyrocket in many real estate markets, an increasing number of pets are being abandoned by families who are forced to vacate their homes and rental properties. Since the mortgage meltdown began, animal shelters in areas with high instances of distressed properties have been reporting over-crowding, and neighbors complaining about an influx of stray animals roaming streets and alleyways.

Although abandoning animals is illegal, people leaving distressed properties, such as those in foreclosure, often move to locations that don’t allow pets or they find their finances are too strained to continue caring for their pets. Whatever the reason for abandonment, pets often are the helpless victims of their owners’ bad decisions, and the law offers them few meaningful protections.

Where Helping Hands Are Tied
Currently, bank employees, property inspectors and others who enter abandoned homes usually are advised to leave property, including pets, untouched until the foreclosure is complete either for legal reasons, or because because the real estate owned (REO) lenders don’t want responsibility for the animals.

In most states, pets are defined as personal property under the law. Often with foreclosure, property remaining after the home is vacated by distressed homeowners is subject to seizure by the lender. In some states, the law fails to provide for personal property forfeiture until a designated time has elapsed in accordance with the terms of the foreclosure. So, under prevailing laws in many states, REO lenders and others are prevented from removing the pets, even if they would like to help. This is where animals can really fall through the cracks.

Abandoned Homes and Neglected Responsibilities
When people such as property inspectors, REO lender representatives, real estate agents and brokers are allowed to enter an abandoned house, they often encounter the rubble of deliberate destruction. Widespread instances of abandonment-related animal abuse and animal neglect have garnered a great deal of media attention.

The problem is so bad, that even Business Week reports that increasing number of these folks are discovering dogs tied up backyards, cats and turtles in garages, and rabbits and lizards left in children’s bedrooms. Many cruel and unscrupulous homeowners have left forsaken dogs and cats behind inside their homes, who have created unmeasured property damages in the process of their truly horrific demise.

California Lawmakers Tackle the Problem
A new law under consideration in California seeks to make it easier for these pets to get the help they need. It also may effect real estate investors who buy properties where pets have been left behind. The bill, A.B. 2949, as it is currently written, would require anyone who encounters an abandoned animal in a property that has been vacated through lease termination or property foreclosure, to immediately contact animal control officials.

The bill recently made its way through the California House unopposed, and it currently is mid-way through the Senate’s deliberation process. Although the bill has a few more legislative hurdles to clear before it becomes law, it raises some issues that many of us in the REI community might like to address in our business practices.

REO Expert Makes a Difference
Last month, Default Servicing News wrote a great story about Integrated Mortgage Solutions President Cheryl Lang, who has been so touched by the effects of pet neglect and abandonment she’s seen working in the mortgage industry, that she’s launched a non-profit Internet forum she hopes will affect change in how the system handles abandoned pets.

No Paws Left Behind is Lang’s Web site that allows pet owners facing foreclosure in different jurisdictions to log on, type in a zip code, and find the nearest animal shelters in the area. It also provides resources for real estate professionals who encounter abandoned pets in the course of their daily business.

Lang’s efforts began with a dog that was abandoned in a Florida pre-foreclosure her group was servicing. Since there was no animal control in the rural area where she was working, Lang contacted the police. They called the Miami Humane Society, who couldn’t reach the area for five days. Lang and her staff spent the week feeding the dog and making sure he had fresh water. In the meantime, she reports that authorities visited the property several times only to post code violations because the dog had been abandoned.

Look for the Signs
Lang advises real estate professionals to be vigilant for signs of abandoned pets when dealing with distressed properties that have been vacated. Listen for animal sounds coming from the house. Even though you may not be permitted to enter, you can contact the appropriate authorities, including the Humane Society, Animal Control or the police.

Traditionally, unless the animal shows immediate signs of distress, local authorities will post notes on the door to notify the pet owner that he or she is legally bound to care for the pet. Eventually, local authorities will move the pet to a new home or shelter. Because this process too often doesn’t work, Lang’s No Paws Left Behind Web site contains a petition geared to change the legal process from the Federal level to protect the pets.

Do the Right Thing
More distressed homeowners and occupants in transition likely would surrender their pets to animal welfare agencies that rescue pets, if they only knew where to turn. By identifying potential problems before pets are abandoned on your properties, you’re not only protecting your assets, in many instances, you may be saving a life.

Although real estate investors are generally not required by law to take any action to help abandoned pets, many of us want to help when we can because we believe it is the right thing to do. Here are some steps you can take as a real estate investor that may help you to avoid the problems and heartache you’re likely to encounter if you discover abandoned pets on your property:

Seven Ways REI Professionals Can Help Save Pet from Abandonment

1. If you you’re working with distressed homeowners or dealing moving tenants out of a property, ask if they have made plans for their pets.
2. Identify animal welfare organizations and animal control contacts in your area, and keep the contact information on hand.
3. If you know that the occupants are looking for rental properties, suggest they check with the Humane Society or local shelter for pet-friendly rental listings, or advise them to check out Web sites like PeopleWithPets.com, or HomeWithPets.com.
4. Distribute animal adoption literature, or Web resources like No Paws Left Behind whenever suspect it might be useful.
5. After the owners or tenants have moved, ask neighbors if the former occupants had pets. Check to make sure no pets were left behind.
6. Ask people you may have visiting the property to keep an eye out for abandoned pets.
7. Call your local Animal Control, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the Humane Society or other shelter for help with rescuing abandoned pets.

Have you encountered abandoned pets in any of your properties? How did you handle it? Please drop us a line and tell us about your experiences. Feel free to share any ideas you think could help other real estate investors who run into the same problem.