Dec. 9, 2024

Michael Russell, founder of Hope 4 Hardship, helping those facing foreclosure and losing their homes

Michael Russell, founder of Hope 4 Hardship, helping those facing foreclosure and losing their homes

Michael Russell, an award-winning Century 21 agency owner and broker, recently launched Hope4Hardship, established as a non-profit organization to provide complimentary services to homeowners facing the devastating threat of being foreclosed on and...

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Michael Russell, an award-winning Century 21 agency owner and broker, recently launched Hope4Hardship, established as a non-profit organization to provide complimentary services to homeowners facing the devastating threat of being foreclosed on and losing their home.

Services include consultation, representation on behalf of the homeowner in talks with banks and mortgage companies, administrative support, assistance application services and ongoing consultation.

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WEBVTT

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The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are

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solely those of the hosts and their guests, and not

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those of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We

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make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services,

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Radio or it's employees are affiliates. Any questions or comments

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should be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for

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choosing W FOURCY Radio.

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Churchill said, those who failed to learn from history are

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condemned to repeat it. Kevin helen N believes that certainly

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applies to business. Welcome to Winning Business Radio here at

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W four CY Radio. That's W four cy dot com

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and now your host, Kevin helen N.

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Thanks everybody for joining in again today. I am Kevin

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hallan An and welcome back to Winning Business TV and

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radio on w CY dot com. We're streaming live on

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talkfotv dot com in addition to at Facebook and that's

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at Winning Business Radio, as well as available in podcasts

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after the live show. Pretty much wherever you get your podcasts,

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you know them all right, YouTube by our radio Spotify, Apple,

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et cetera, et cetera. The mission of Winning Business Radio

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and TV, as regular viewers and listeners know, is to

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offer insights and advice, to help people avoid the mistakes

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of others, to learn best practices, the how tos, the

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what tos, the what not tos, of course, and to

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be challenged and hopefully to be inspired by the successes

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of others. Who are those others consultants, coaches, advisors, authors, founders,

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owners and entrepreneurs, people with expertise, but you know most

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of those people. Virtually every successful person that I've ever

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had a chance to talk to has said some form

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of failure and their lives and careers. So while we

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all have to get our knee skinned once in a while,

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I'm driven to keep those scrapes from needing major surgery. Right.

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I said every week, let's endeavor to learn from history,

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so to repeat it. I've spent the better part of

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my career equipping businesses to grow from solopreneurs to small

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and medium sized companies all the way up to the

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Fortune fifty, and I've seen a lot of those companies win,

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and to some degree varying degrees that is I've seen

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some fail and I've had the opportunity to rub elbows

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with some of the highest forming people around and some

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of those who probably should have found other jobs. And

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in my own businesses, I've had lots of success, but

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of course some failures as well, So I like to

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think I've learned a lot from those experiences. So, yeah,

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you're going to hear from me, but you're really more

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importantly going to hear from others who've developed their expertise

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over time. And today's guest is no exception. His name

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is Michael Russell. He is a very successful Century twenty

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one agency owner, but he's the founder of Hope for Hardship,

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a nonprofit that helps those going through foreclosure and facing bankruptcy.

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Here's his bio. Michael Russell, an award win ueing Century

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twenty one agency owner and broker, recently launched Hope for Hardship,

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establish as a nonprofit organization to provide complimentary services to

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homeowners facing the devastating threat of being foreclosed on and

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losing their home. You see, years ago, Mike found himself

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in that very situation. Addictions got the better of him.

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He lost his home, file for bankruptcy and damaged relationships

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that took years to men. Michael says, I've been through

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the gauntlet of financial chaos, being foreclosed on bankruptcy and

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all the emotional lows that accompany them, largely the same

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things Hope for Hardship clients are going through, only he says,

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I didn't have the knowledge back then to avoid bankruptcy,

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and therefore I lost my property. After facing up to

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my relatively tragic fiscal irresponsibility and making amends with loved

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ones I heard along the way, I decided to help

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people in similar situations as part of my real estate practice.

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Hope for Hardships services include consultation, representation on behalf of

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the homeowner and talks with banks and mortgage companies, administrative support, assistance,

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application services, and ongoing consultation. As a nonprofit organization, Hope

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for Hardship offers its extensive services free of charge. Whether

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it's finding a way to keep a home or exploring

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other options such as a sale or federal bankruptcy protection.

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Hope for Hardship is committed to guiding homeowners toward the

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best possible income. Mike has two kids, Nicole, who's twenty nine,

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and Garrett, who's twenty eight and he lives in Dartmouth,

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Math Mass with his wife Natalie. Mike, Welcome to Winning

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Business Radio.

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Thank you, glad to be here, man, appreciate it.

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I'm glad to have you. Let's start with family. Tell

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us about Nicole and Garrett.

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Hey, listen, smart kids. They're off building their lives, building

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their families. Both entrepreneurial spirits. Both you know, family businesses

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are kind of like a disease, you know, it's the

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kids hard time escaping them. But I'm happy to say

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that they both did after working in it for a

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short period of time.

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What do they do?

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Garrett has some very successful online businesses, and Nicole is

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actually a real estate broker and a mother out in Colorado.

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Very good, very good.

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And tell us about Natalie.

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Natalie is a realtor, also sucked in by the family

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that Natalie has worked here in our company since two

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thousand and seven when we verst met, and she is

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also she does some staging and design, but her new

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favorite thing to do is she does these live shows

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online for Poshmart selling clothes, which she absolutely adoors.

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Yeah, yeah, outstanding. Love that another entrepreneurial spirit.

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Right, yeah, absolutely.

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You know, so you live in Dartmouth, is that the

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area which you grew up?

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I grew up on the south shore, you know, south

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in Plymouth, Plymouth myth. Yeah, yeah, I grew up in Plymouth.

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Yeah, the whole home of the Plymouth Rock and those

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Most of us have seen it. But if you're from

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out of state and you haven't seen it, go check

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it out. You'll be underwhelmed. Even though it's pretty cool,

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but still you're not on anything.

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Yeah, exactly. I had stream shops on that street.

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That's sixteen twenty hotels cool too, and the every Thanksgiving

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they do a parade.

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Yes, yes, yeah, very cool.

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So what was it like to grow up in Plymouth?

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Tell the audience about that.

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I love Plymouth, man, I love the south shore Massachusetts.

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I love the coast. I you know, out of high

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in high school, I started working on a fishing boat,

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commercial fishing boat out of Plymouth Harbor. And that's kind

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of where I fell in love with the water. I

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always told myself I'd get it back there in a

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in a mode of pleasure, not work. Yeah, I was.

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I s where I fell in love with the ocean,

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and then you know, I kind of realized that I

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wouldn't last very long in that industry. And you know,

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my father was a Century twenty one corporate employee. For

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Century twenty one, he was a franchise support corporate employee,

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and so he got laid off in the nineties during

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one of Century twenty one's corporate sales, and it was

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just it was kismet. Really. He knew all of the players,

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the franchisees in the New England region, and knew what

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their exit strategies were and time frames were, and he

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happened to know that the number one Century twenty one

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office in New England that they were looking to sell,

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and so miraculously he put that together. And once he did,

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I went to him and said, what do I have

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to do to trade my blue collar in for my

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white collar? And I thought it was going to be

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a really easy answer, but instead I go to college.

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And so I went to college and just started working

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in the real estate business as an administrative assistant and

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just kind of held every position there was to hold

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in a real estate brokerage. Uh, you know, through my twenties.

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Yeah, I was gonna ask about that because I looked

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at the timeline and before college. You started in, uh,

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in that business as an admin assistant. What did you

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learn from that particular position?

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Uh, that is the that is the most educational position

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available in a real estate organization. You know, I was

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always an observant guy, and so I would observe the

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nature of relationships. I would observe salespeople. I observed consumers

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and what they said when they when they picked up

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the phone. I was. I was tremendously polite on the

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phone or a lot of top producers who preferred that

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I answered the phone. And I think I just took

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pride in the job, whatever it was, because I kind

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of I treated it like it was my own from

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the very beginning. I didn't even have to go to class.

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I probably shouldn't publicized that, but hey, the Statute of

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Limitations has passed on this. I didn't take course. That

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position alone was enough to get me to pass the

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real estate exam. Wow. And what I learned in that position, yeah.

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Yeahs incredible. Yeah, and then you knew you wanted a

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major in business administration. Was that part of that as well?

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Yeah? Yeah, I think they just just fit, you know,

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I think it just fit. You know, I kind of knew.

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I kind of knew what I was doing. Probably made

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me not take college as seriously as perhaps I could have.

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I kind of you know, most of the people that

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you're around in college don't really know what they're going

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to do. Yeah, and I kind of believed from the

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very beginning that I knew exactly what I was going

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to do. You know.

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Yeah, I was almost one of those. I went to

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school for electrical engineering, and my dad tapped me on

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the shoulder between well, I was in a five year

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program at UMass. Don't tell anybody, but that's because I

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didn't do well my first year. Yeah, but keep that

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between us, Okay, But during third and fourth years he

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tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to come sell.

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And I never looked back.

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Yeah, you know, absolutely I get it. No, uh no,

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shame there, man, Mike. My name to fame. My year

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was I got arrested twice in the same week by

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the same cop on the same man. You know, they're

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you know, I made it, Yeah, I made it.

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Do as we do, do as we say, not as

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we do. All right, then you got then you became

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the director of marketing at the agency. Tell us about that.

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Role. Yep, man whole different world, right. It was uh,

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print media is you know, I was. There was a

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long time where we didn't even hire someone younger than

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me for probably the first twelve years I was in

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the business. So I was just the young guy around

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the office. And with the advent of the Internet. I

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can't believe I'm saying that, you know, back then, I

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just kind of I was forced to become technologically proficient

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and it just kind of fell into my lap. And

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so with you know, websites were just coming around, and

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and so I really focused my energies on print in

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the beginning, and then and then the Internet came around

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and we started playing around with that. It was because

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sometimes it feels like a simpler time back then. Sometimes

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it feels like a simpler time.

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I hear you. Most important lesson learned probably the hardest

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question as a director of marketing.

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It's not about attracting consumers. It's about attracting talented sales people.

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Well that's good, yeah, yeah.

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You know, you can do all the work in the

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world to make your phone ring or make people walk

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into your building, but if you don't have competent people

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that can help steward those people into home ship or

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whatever they need, and you're, you know, throwing good money

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after bat.

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So you got the real estate license, an agent license

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I'm imagining right, the first one. Yeah, the first one,

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the agent license. Yeah, broke was later probably, But were

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you selling homes during that time period as well?

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I was, Yeah, yeah, after you know, probably after I

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don't know, six years, probably as an administrative assistant marketing

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00:12:28.759 --> 00:12:33.120
director or something like that. Right, Yeah, yeah, that was

223
00:12:34.360 --> 00:12:36.200
you know, that was that was an outstanding. That was

224
00:12:36.279 --> 00:12:39.679
the single best education in human behavior I ever received.

225
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Are greater than any formal education. And if there was

226
00:12:45.720 --> 00:12:48.919
a boom time, you know, four or five oh sing

227
00:12:49.399 --> 00:12:53.240
followed by the biggest financial tragedy over hit you know,

228
00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:59.879
the world. Yeah, And I think that's what it all

229
00:13:00.279 --> 00:13:04.000
resonated with me. You know, the experiences of selling real estate.

230
00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:06.320
It's a wide spectrum and you see it all, and

231
00:13:06.360 --> 00:13:09.919
you see the elation and excitement of the first time

232
00:13:09.960 --> 00:13:12.960
home buyer or someone that's leveling up and buying their

233
00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:17.480
dream home and all those things. Those things never resonated

234
00:13:17.519 --> 00:13:21.840
with me as much as the sad stories. I always

235
00:13:22.039 --> 00:13:27.200
had an affinity for dealing with people who were struggling

236
00:13:27.240 --> 00:13:31.559
in some fashion. And you know, and the simplicity of

237
00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:36.440
it is death, divorced, disaster. You know, those three constants

238
00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:39.879
in real estate transactions that happened. You know, there are

239
00:13:40.440 --> 00:13:44.080
great reasons and bad reasons to sell or buy property.

240
00:13:44.120 --> 00:13:50.279
But and then I worked for Freddie Mack as a

241
00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:56.559
listing representative during the eighth nine, ten eleven twelve, during

242
00:13:56.559 --> 00:13:59.559
the worst time, and I began to witness things that

243
00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:02.200
you know, I just never thought i'd see. Is something

244
00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:05.360
called the lockout. I probably saw it two or three

245
00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:09.120
hundred times where I have to go accompany the sheriff

246
00:14:09.639 --> 00:14:12.399
a box truck and two movers to knock on the

247
00:14:12.440 --> 00:14:17.799
door once the bike were closed, and say, whatever you

248
00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:20.240
want to keep, they'll put in the truck. We have

249
00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:24.039
an hour. When we're finished, we're changing the locks, and

250
00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:30.679
you're on the curb. Holy cow, and the grief and

251
00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:36.440
shock in dismay that resonated with me, and I probably

252
00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:41.080
helped something in the neighborhood of five hundred people sell

253
00:14:41.159 --> 00:14:45.320
properties short, which means less than the amount owed on

254
00:14:45.399 --> 00:14:49.120
the property. You know, values had plummeted and people were

255
00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:51.799
underwater on properties. And so I did a lot of

256
00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:56.879
short sale work too, which I really enjoyed doing. There

257
00:14:57.559 --> 00:15:00.360
there was a boundary. I was a buffer between the

258
00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:05.120
consumer and the bank. And that's a lot similar to

259
00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:08.080
what I'm doing with this hope for hardship. Is that's

260
00:15:08.120 --> 00:15:10.840
the most value that I've provide here when it's you

261
00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:17.639
that's going through this, finding the patience, the wherewithal, and

262
00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:22.919
the calmness to communicate with a bank, trying to negotiate

263
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with them some sort of assistance is very challenging, because

264
00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:29.320
you know, part of this process of getting assistance from

265
00:15:29.320 --> 00:15:33.120
a bank is arduous, to say the least. And you

266
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sent them a piece of paperwork they requested three minutes

267
00:15:36.120 --> 00:15:38.240
ago or three days ago, and you call them and

268
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they say they didn't get it. For the consumer to

269
00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:44.679
actually make those calls themselves, they throw their hands up

270
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far faster than me, who is not burdened by owning

271
00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:52.519
that problem. And so I just I enjoyed being that

272
00:15:52.600 --> 00:15:58.639
emotional buffer where I had the sufficient empathy care to

273
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help the consumer through the tough time, and the proficiency

274
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and experience to deal with the bank.

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All right, let's take a pause right there. Michael will

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be back in just a minute. Everybody will be back

277
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with Mike Russell of Hope for Hardship. In about one minute,

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00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:22.279
you're listening to Winning Business Radio with Kevin Helene on

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W four CY Radio. That's W four cy dot com.

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Don't go away.

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More helpful information is coming right up right here on

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Winning Business Radio.

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00:16:35.720 --> 00:16:37.799
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284
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286
00:16:43.720 --> 00:16:47.039
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00:16:51.240 --> 00:16:54.799
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00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:01.480
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291
00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:06.880
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292
00:17:08.200 --> 00:17:11.240
And now back to Winning Business Radio with Kevin Helene,

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00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:15.119
presenting exciting topics and expert guests with one goal in

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mind to help you succeed in business. Here once again

295
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is Kevin helenet.

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We're back with Mike Russell. He is the founder of

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Hope for Hardship and Mike, you were talking a bit

298
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about being that buffer because you're not emotionally involved, you

299
00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:40.400
know you have the empathy because you were that You

300
00:17:40.440 --> 00:17:42.720
were that guy at one point, you were that family

301
00:17:42.839 --> 00:17:46.200
or person at one point. But before we get back

302
00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:47.720
into that, I want to ask you just a couple

303
00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:52.240
more questions about the brokerage. How big is your team?

304
00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:54.680
About seventy people?

305
00:17:55.200 --> 00:17:58.920
Wow, seventy people? And what areas it's all southeastern Mass.

306
00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:02.160
Into all the state of Mass and Rhode Island.

307
00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:06.920
Oh okay, very good. And what was the most difficult

308
00:18:06.920 --> 00:18:11.160
part of either starting? Actually, it sounds like you probably

309
00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:11.839
took over.

310
00:18:12.920 --> 00:18:13.839
I did, sure.

311
00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:17.119
My father tells you just a little bit about that transition.

312
00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:24.279
Yeah, it was tumultuous. We were in financial straits. The

313
00:18:24.279 --> 00:18:30.599
economy had tanked tremendously. Poor decisions of my own put

314
00:18:30.680 --> 00:18:36.720
us in an even bigger fiscal crunch, which really splintered

315
00:18:36.759 --> 00:18:44.640
my relationship with my father. And my father walked away, really,

316
00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:47.200
he walked away from the business, and he didn't have

317
00:18:47.240 --> 00:18:49.960
a lot of faith that it was going to that

318
00:18:50.039 --> 00:18:52.759
it was going to survive. We had filed corporate bankruptcy.

319
00:18:53.799 --> 00:18:58.119
I spent the better part of a year proving to

320
00:18:58.200 --> 00:19:02.440
the trustee at the bankruptcy court that we were we

321
00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:07.319
could be solvent by sharing books on a monthly basis

322
00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:12.079
and editorializing them to describe the efforts I was making

323
00:19:12.119 --> 00:19:15.680
in order to keep the business afloat, and I lived

324
00:19:15.720 --> 00:19:19.839
really in constant fear of them converting it to a

325
00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:23.160
Chapter seven and putting us out of business. Well, and

326
00:19:23.480 --> 00:19:26.279
while I did that, and you know, had sleepless nights,

327
00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:29.480
I came in and put on a face that made

328
00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:33.559
it look like everything was fine when it wasn't. It

329
00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:36.839
wasn't even close to fine. It was you know, the

330
00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:39.640
hardest thing I went through in my whole life was

331
00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:44.720
that point. And it wasn't the financial stuff, in hindsight,

332
00:19:44.759 --> 00:19:47.839
although I thought that was the most important thing was

333
00:19:47.880 --> 00:19:53.200
the easy part. It was the splintering of relationships that

334
00:19:54.359 --> 00:19:57.720
the collateral damage that I created with poor financial decisions

335
00:19:57.759 --> 00:20:00.680
over the course of my life last did the better

336
00:20:00.759 --> 00:20:03.519
part of a decade as it ripped through my family,

337
00:20:04.839 --> 00:20:07.440
and it took me the better part of ten years

338
00:20:07.559 --> 00:20:12.759
to resolve those issues and and make amends for the

339
00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:15.440
decisions I've made.

340
00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:21.839
So what came first, the financial hardship, that financial stress

341
00:20:22.440 --> 00:20:28.599
or substance, Well, you know.

342
00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:32.880
The behaviors were always there, right, so yeah, you know,

343
00:20:33.000 --> 00:20:40.160
I I would say that the substance came first. Yeah,

344
00:20:40.200 --> 00:20:43.359
in large part, you know, Yeah, my father and I

345
00:20:43.400 --> 00:20:47.559
were gamblers. We love to gamble, you know. Yeah. Yeah,

346
00:20:47.880 --> 00:20:50.720
it was just the kids, you know, and we we

347
00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:54.440
kind of you know, there was culpability all around, but

348
00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:57.119
I certainly had the most of it. But you know,

349
00:20:57.200 --> 00:21:00.480
we we we played a little game. You know, we

350
00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:02.640
had the real books and then we had the books

351
00:21:02.680 --> 00:21:06.359
that were shown to my mother. And that's kind of

352
00:21:06.359 --> 00:21:08.720
the arrangement that we had. And I learned that pretty early.

353
00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:14.039
And then in a relatively short amount of time, what

354
00:21:14.200 --> 00:21:19.559
I saw being done there I eventually did to my father. Wow. Yeah,

355
00:21:20.359 --> 00:21:23.440
and that was the that was the that was my

356
00:21:23.559 --> 00:21:25.839
tumultuous experience with a family business.

357
00:21:26.319 --> 00:21:30.519
And so yeah, how did you you know, it's not

358
00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:32.319
a flip of a switch. You said, it's a decade.

359
00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:34.119
I mean, how did you come through it? You clearly

360
00:21:34.119 --> 00:21:35.559
did better off for it.

361
00:21:36.039 --> 00:21:36.279
Yeah.

362
00:21:36.279 --> 00:21:39.200
I used to not like talking about a bankruptcy that

363
00:21:39.240 --> 00:21:42.920
I went through and we ours was a seven and

364
00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:47.359
it was a liquidation as well as a personal bankruptcy.

365
00:21:47.480 --> 00:21:49.519
I mean, it was awful. I would never want anybody

366
00:21:49.519 --> 00:21:52.359
to go through that. That was late nineties and that

367
00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:54.880
was a business that failed, and long story short, I

368
00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:56.519
won't even get into it. I used to hate to

369
00:21:56.519 --> 00:21:58.160
talk about it. Now I'm talking about it on the air,

370
00:21:58.240 --> 00:22:00.559
But then I said that it's it's made me a

371
00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:03.960
part who I am, so talk about how you got

372
00:22:03.960 --> 00:22:04.279
through that.

373
00:22:06.119 --> 00:22:09.920
I got sober. I got sober. You know, for the

374
00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:12.079
last eight years of my life, I've been living a

375
00:22:12.119 --> 00:22:17.599
life of recovery. That's awesome, which is where which I

376
00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:20.000
wouldn't be anywhere near where I am today if not

377
00:22:20.119 --> 00:22:24.079
for that. There are some things that work tremendously hard.

378
00:22:24.519 --> 00:22:27.559
I my father passed away before I was able to

379
00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:31.400
make a living amends with my father. Yeah, so that

380
00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:34.799
I was never able to solve that in the living world.

381
00:22:36.119 --> 00:22:38.799
But I was you know, I was pretty selfish in

382
00:22:38.839 --> 00:22:40.880
the beginning, if I'm being honest. You know, the way

383
00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:43.920
that I turned this business around is I made it

384
00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:48.079
all about the money and I went after that top line,

385
00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:53.160
ego driven dollar and I did whatever I had to do,

386
00:22:53.240 --> 00:22:55.720
and I said whatever I had to say to get

387
00:22:55.759 --> 00:22:59.559
what I wanted. And it was all monetary based. It

388
00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:03.920
was lucky, largely ego driven. I couldn't stand the idea

389
00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:11.039
of anyone thinking I failed. That's what started fixing the business.

390
00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:16.599
But eventually that you know, getting sober changed that, you know,

391
00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:18.559
And there was a lot of true self false self

392
00:23:18.599 --> 00:23:20.519
stuff going on with me, and I was trying to

393
00:23:20.519 --> 00:23:25.640
pretend I was someone I wasn't, and you know, all

394
00:23:25.680 --> 00:23:28.279
the typical things that you see I think, you know,

395
00:23:28.599 --> 00:23:32.319
I suffered from. You know, I was an inferior I

396
00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:35.400
was an egomaniac with an inferiority complex, you know, and

397
00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:39.640
I operated that way on a daily basis. And so

398
00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:41.880
in the beginning, I just I did whatever I had

399
00:23:41.880 --> 00:23:45.200
to do to not be closed down by the bankruptcy court.

400
00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:49.839
And I built the largest sales team that I could

401
00:23:50.559 --> 00:23:54.160
to generate enough cash flow to satisfy the bankruptcy court.

402
00:23:54.640 --> 00:23:58.240
After that going on for a couple of years, I

403
00:23:58.680 --> 00:24:02.240
got sober, and I started to change the way I lived,

404
00:24:03.160 --> 00:24:06.880
and I started to take care of the things and

405
00:24:06.920 --> 00:24:10.599
become more fiscally responsible. I stopped being the spender that

406
00:24:10.680 --> 00:24:12.960
I was most of my life. I stopped caring about

407
00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:17.000
what everyone else thinks, and stopped believing that everyone was

408
00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:19.160
thinking about me as much as I thought they were,

409
00:24:19.559 --> 00:24:22.559
and all those kinds of things, and really just began

410
00:24:22.680 --> 00:24:25.440
to change who I was. You know, my mother bailed

411
00:24:25.480 --> 00:24:31.079
me out of problems in this business fifteen times to

412
00:24:31.160 --> 00:24:34.640
the tune of twenty five to fifty thousand dollars a pop. Yeah,

413
00:24:35.079 --> 00:24:39.960
no questions asked. And so I've been making amends to

414
00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:41.960
her ever since, you know, two years ago, I bought

415
00:24:41.960 --> 00:24:43.759
her a house. And I never thought I'd be able

416
00:24:43.799 --> 00:24:47.440
to say that. And I am first alie that if

417
00:24:47.480 --> 00:24:50.599
I can turn my life around, in my circumstance around,

418
00:24:50.640 --> 00:24:54.400
that absolutely anybody can. And the vast majority of the

419
00:24:54.440 --> 00:24:58.440
people I meet who have fallen behind on their mortgage

420
00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:02.240
payments have many other problems in their life as well,

421
00:25:03.240 --> 00:25:06.559
and a lot of them I relate to. It's actually

422
00:25:07.559 --> 00:25:10.640
a lesser amount of people who fall behind on their mortgage,

423
00:25:10.640 --> 00:25:15.440
in my experience, are true victims. There is a small

424
00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:19.680
segment who health, you know, things that are outside of

425
00:25:19.720 --> 00:25:23.240
their control that put them in this situation. But I

426
00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:25.279
would say that the vast majority of the people that

427
00:25:25.319 --> 00:25:29.480
I meet are in some phase of denial. And I

428
00:25:29.680 --> 00:25:35.319
see way more fingers than I do thumbs, right, and

429
00:25:35.400 --> 00:25:37.880
I think that's just you know, the human condition, right,

430
00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:41.759
it's everyone else's fault. And I relate to that, and

431
00:25:41.880 --> 00:25:44.920
I have a way of relating to people who are

432
00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:47.880
in that place in the life and part of the

433
00:25:47.880 --> 00:25:50.480
deal I made in sobriety was listen, just pay it

434
00:25:50.559 --> 00:25:52.839
forward to the next man or woman. That's the deal,

435
00:25:53.000 --> 00:25:56.759
that's the bargain. And so because of my unique experience

436
00:25:57.759 --> 00:26:00.000
being in this real estate business, it's just this stuff

437
00:26:00.359 --> 00:26:04.640
is so elementary to me, like and it kills me sometimes.

438
00:26:04.640 --> 00:26:07.640
There are so many companies and I never want a

439
00:26:07.680 --> 00:26:11.480
disparage or cast judgment. Everyone has a business model, right.

440
00:26:11.799 --> 00:26:14.559
There are attorneys and there. You know, when you get

441
00:26:14.880 --> 00:26:18.359
a notice of intent to foreclose recorded, it becomes public record.

442
00:26:19.319 --> 00:26:22.240
And what happens from that is a whole bunch of

443
00:26:22.279 --> 00:26:24.480
people come out of the woodwork that are trying to

444
00:26:24.519 --> 00:26:27.559
capitalize on what they perceive to be somebody else's misfortune.

445
00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:29.920
And it's not that I don't understand it. I get it.

446
00:26:30.039 --> 00:26:33.960
I know what they're doing, which makes people very hesitant

447
00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:36.519
to trust what I'm saying. Listen, this is for me.

448
00:26:36.920 --> 00:26:39.480
Come into my office twenty five minutes. A lot of

449
00:26:39.480 --> 00:26:41.400
times for twenty five minutes, I get on the phone

450
00:26:41.400 --> 00:26:43.480
with a bank on a three way call, get an

451
00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:47.039
assistance application, help them fill it out, get the supporting documentation,

452
00:26:47.720 --> 00:26:50.960
and boom, they're back in the good graces with the bank,

453
00:26:51.880 --> 00:26:54.039
and that is not hard work for me.

454
00:26:54.559 --> 00:26:56.000
One of the things you said, I don't know if

455
00:26:56.000 --> 00:26:59.640
it's in the bio or in the That's one of

456
00:26:59.680 --> 00:27:02.680
the things I read about you was the bank can

457
00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:04.079
be your biggest ally.

458
00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:07.839
Absolutely sure. We're definitely afraid of them. Yeah, and I

459
00:27:07.880 --> 00:27:09.599
get it. You know, there was a time in my

460
00:27:09.680 --> 00:27:12.000
life when I had two years of unopened mail on

461
00:27:12.039 --> 00:27:15.640
my dining room table. In hindsight, the answers to my

462
00:27:15.759 --> 00:27:20.240
problems were in that bile. Yeah, yeah, you know what

463
00:27:20.319 --> 00:27:23.559
I mean. But we don't. We don't think that the

464
00:27:23.720 --> 00:27:27.000
very entity that's coming after us is the one that

465
00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:30.119
can help us. We don't think that. And the average

466
00:27:30.160 --> 00:27:33.759
consumer has no earthly idea. They're overwhelmed in there. They're intimidated,

467
00:27:34.279 --> 00:27:36.519
they don't know what to say. They're they're riddled with shame,

468
00:27:36.799 --> 00:27:41.200
first of all unreasonable guilt, and so they don't know

469
00:27:41.240 --> 00:27:43.799
what to do. And you know, there seems to be

470
00:27:43.880 --> 00:27:47.359
a There are some really great ways to stop a

471
00:27:47.400 --> 00:27:50.480
foreclosure from happening. And my favorite one that I see

472
00:27:50.519 --> 00:27:53.640
on a regular basis is banks. Most banks are willing

473
00:27:53.680 --> 00:27:56.799
to do what's called a partial claim mortgage, and what

474
00:27:56.839 --> 00:27:59.759
that means is they take the arrearage the past, do

475
00:27:59.880 --> 00:28:02.559
a amount. They tack it onto a second mortgage on

476
00:28:02.599 --> 00:28:06.079
the back end, not doing payable until either the maturity

477
00:28:06.119 --> 00:28:09.640
of your original note or you sell the property. They

478
00:28:09.920 --> 00:28:13.160
record that note at zero percent with no payments due.

479
00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:17.160
As long as the fair bargain is in about sixty days,

480
00:28:17.160 --> 00:28:21.240
you can resume your normal payments. That can be done

481
00:28:22.279 --> 00:28:26.480
seventy percent of the time if you act relatively quickly.

482
00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:31.000
The larger the yourrears, the longer you wait, the less

483
00:28:31.039 --> 00:28:34.680
willing the bank is to do that. And so the

484
00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:36.839
more people I can get into a program like that,

485
00:28:37.200 --> 00:28:42.039
especially with the interest rates tripling in the last four years. Yeah, yeah,

486
00:28:42.599 --> 00:28:45.359
you don't want a loan modification when you fall into

487
00:28:45.400 --> 00:28:49.319
this situation because a modification of the terms closes at

488
00:28:49.359 --> 00:28:53.359
today's current rates. So many of these people are in

489
00:28:53.440 --> 00:28:57.240
trouble at two and a half percent mortgage rates. Wow,

490
00:28:58.119 --> 00:29:02.119
if you can keep that in place, handle therrearage, and

491
00:29:02.200 --> 00:29:06.079
keep your normal mortgage in place, it's cheaper than rent

492
00:29:06.519 --> 00:29:07.799
to stay in that payment.

493
00:29:08.119 --> 00:29:11.279
All right, last question before the second break. Yeah, yeah, no,

494
00:29:11.400 --> 00:29:13.799
I'm hearing this and it's your pat You can tell

495
00:29:13.839 --> 00:29:16.920
your passion. When did you decide you wanted to start

496
00:29:16.920 --> 00:29:17.720
this nonprofit.

497
00:29:19.519 --> 00:29:24.359
Two thousand nineteen, I started doing this work and I

498
00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:29.880
started to realize that it did something for me. It

499
00:29:29.960 --> 00:29:33.759
was rewarding. I was non monetary. This wasn't about going

500
00:29:33.799 --> 00:29:39.759
after money. This was about something that was so simple

501
00:29:39.799 --> 00:29:43.880
and easy to me, meant so much to people. And

502
00:29:44.240 --> 00:29:47.359
when I identified that, which I identified relatively quickly in

503
00:29:47.400 --> 00:29:50.960
twenty nineteen, I started doing it as just a guy.

504
00:29:51.519 --> 00:29:53.400
I was like, hey, you know, whatever, I don't need

505
00:29:53.440 --> 00:29:57.440
an entity, whatever, just let's go. You know. I brought

506
00:29:57.480 --> 00:30:00.359
a few hostages with me here in my office like

507
00:30:00.400 --> 00:30:03.000
what I was doing, you know, and we started having

508
00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:05.440
fun and we were and we made it, you know.

509
00:30:05.599 --> 00:30:06.640
And really helping people.

510
00:30:07.000 --> 00:30:08.680
Yeah, a couple of days a week we come in

511
00:30:08.720 --> 00:30:10.440
here and pick up the phone and start calling these

512
00:30:10.480 --> 00:30:15.880
people and so. But to actually form the nonprofit, we

513
00:30:15.920 --> 00:30:18.160
did that this year. We're pending five oh one three

514
00:30:18.279 --> 00:30:23.039
C status and it is our intent to be nationwide. Well,

515
00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:27.599
there are two inalienable truths about this right, No bank

516
00:30:27.640 --> 00:30:31.480
in America wants to foreclose, no homeowner in America wants

517
00:30:31.480 --> 00:30:34.480
to be foreclosed on. Those are inalienable truths, no matter

518
00:30:34.480 --> 00:30:37.039
what state you're in and I believe that there's a

519
00:30:37.079 --> 00:30:38.039
place for us.

520
00:30:38.599 --> 00:30:40.319
All right, we're going to take a break right here.

521
00:30:40.519 --> 00:30:47.400
We'll be back in one more minute. Mike Russell, you're

522
00:30:47.480 --> 00:30:51.599
listening to Winning Business Radio with Kevin Helene on W

523
00:30:51.759 --> 00:30:55.799
four CY Radio. That's W four cy dot com. Don't

524
00:30:55.799 --> 00:30:56.200
go away.

525
00:30:56.319 --> 00:30:59.079
More helpful information is coming right up right here on

526
00:30:59.400 --> 00:31:00.640
Winningusiness Radio.

527
00:31:03.039 --> 00:31:06.000
The yp dot com website is your local search engine.

528
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If you're looking for a good restaurant, it can help

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531
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535
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536
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537
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download the app to search local, find local, and save local.

538
00:31:37.000 --> 00:31:40.039
And now back to Winning Business Radio with Kevin Helene,

539
00:31:40.079 --> 00:31:43.920
presenting exciting topics and expert guests with one goal in

540
00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:47.480
mind to help you succeed in business. Here once again

541
00:31:47.799 --> 00:31:51.079
is Kevin Helene.

542
00:31:56.519 --> 00:31:58.880
We're back with Mike Russell, who is an award winning

543
00:31:59.119 --> 00:32:02.640
Century twenty one broker owner and the founder of Hope

544
00:32:02.799 --> 00:32:07.119
for Hardship Like you and others who else provide services

545
00:32:07.160 --> 00:32:09.440
and you don't charge for any of these services.

546
00:32:09.200 --> 00:32:11.559
We do not know, We do not charge anything for

547
00:32:11.599 --> 00:32:15.519
these services. Ever. I have a processor on the team

548
00:32:15.799 --> 00:32:18.960
and co founders who helped me do this work and

549
00:32:20.440 --> 00:32:21.079
it's a passion.

550
00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:24.440
So then the next question is what does that funding

551
00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:29.160
for those you know for the work self funded from

552
00:32:29.200 --> 00:32:29.920
self funded?

553
00:32:30.279 --> 00:32:32.400
You know, Yeah, at this stage of the game, it's

554
00:32:32.480 --> 00:32:35.880
just something that that myself and the co founder's fund

555
00:32:36.519 --> 00:32:39.559
that we do. It's yeah, go ahead.

556
00:32:39.799 --> 00:32:43.000
And to grow, you're going to need others of like mind,

557
00:32:43.200 --> 00:32:46.519
or you're going to need some type of of income, correct.

558
00:32:48.160 --> 00:32:52.519
Yeah, I think that. I think that the vast majority

559
00:32:52.559 --> 00:32:57.039
of the time that goes into this is the it's time. Right.

560
00:32:58.039 --> 00:33:01.880
I'm fortunate, really grateful and blessed to be in the

561
00:33:01.960 --> 00:33:07.319
place where I have another mode of earnings. I have

562
00:33:07.400 --> 00:33:11.720
an outstanding gentleman that runs my real estate business for

563
00:33:11.759 --> 00:33:15.240
me that I can trust, which you know sometimes takes

564
00:33:15.240 --> 00:33:20.519
a lifetime to find. Yeah, and so I'm in an

565
00:33:20.599 --> 00:33:24.400
amazing position to be able to donate my time, which

566
00:33:24.440 --> 00:33:25.759
is essentially what I'm doing.

567
00:33:26.680 --> 00:33:29.400
And I asked you a quick interjection, just for the audience.

568
00:33:29.480 --> 00:33:32.000
I asked you pre show how much time you devote.

569
00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:34.039
I didn't expect the answer. I was impressed, but I

570
00:33:34.039 --> 00:33:36.200
did not expect you to say forty hours.

571
00:33:36.440 --> 00:33:40.759
Yeah, I would say definitely forty hours. Yeah, full time, Yeah,

572
00:33:40.920 --> 00:33:44.480
Monday through Friday. This is where I live in this space.

573
00:33:45.720 --> 00:33:48.319
At nine o'clock this morning to start the week. On Monday,

574
00:33:48.359 --> 00:33:49.920
I was on the phone with a woman in her bank.

575
00:33:51.039 --> 00:33:53.440
And it really hasn't stopped. The only thing I really

576
00:33:53.440 --> 00:33:56.039
stopped to do here was we're getting ready for a

577
00:33:56.119 --> 00:33:59.279
Santa event here, so reluctantly I got involved in that

578
00:33:59.319 --> 00:33:59.960
for a minute.

579
00:34:00.319 --> 00:34:01.720
So you had to. You had to take a take

580
00:34:01.759 --> 00:34:02.920
a leak at one point you might have.

581
00:34:04.640 --> 00:34:08.440
Ye, but yeah, no, this is this is uh, this

582
00:34:08.519 --> 00:34:12.639
is my focus exclusively. This is what I enjoy doing

583
00:34:13.599 --> 00:34:18.079
and it creates it creates amazing moments, you know.

584
00:34:18.960 --> 00:34:21.079
So take us through the process. I'm sorry to interrupted,

585
00:34:21.480 --> 00:34:24.079
Please finish that thought. Then take us through the process

586
00:34:24.079 --> 00:34:24.679
of how it works.

587
00:34:25.440 --> 00:34:29.559
Yeah. So the process is pretty simple, right. We we

588
00:34:29.639 --> 00:34:33.159
operate off a basic service agreement, right, and the service agreement.

589
00:34:33.199 --> 00:34:35.920
All it outlines is what my expectations of are you

590
00:34:36.079 --> 00:34:39.920
the consumer, and those are things like, please be proactive

591
00:34:40.360 --> 00:34:43.719
when we request supporting documentation, please provide it a timely

592
00:34:43.760 --> 00:34:46.760
man et cetera, et cetera. And then we just kind

593
00:34:46.760 --> 00:34:50.239
of describe the services that will provide. And so what

594
00:34:50.239 --> 00:34:52.960
what happens here is there's an intake, and in the

595
00:34:53.000 --> 00:34:57.639
intake we get pertinent information, who's your bank loan number,

596
00:34:57.719 --> 00:35:01.559
those kinds of things, we get third party authorization X.

597
00:35:01.719 --> 00:35:04.559
It's just gonna ask yeah, yeah, so we can communicate

598
00:35:04.599 --> 00:35:08.159
directly with the lender. We do a three way call

599
00:35:08.559 --> 00:35:11.000
up front with the lender and the consumer to kind

600
00:35:11.000 --> 00:35:13.519
of get give them an idea what we're doing. And

601
00:35:13.679 --> 00:35:15.719
you know a lot of lenders are different and just

602
00:35:15.800 --> 00:35:19.920
kind of navigate how they do it. We provide the

603
00:35:19.960 --> 00:35:24.000
creation of the assistance application, the you know, the hardship letter,

604
00:35:24.039 --> 00:35:26.920
all the editorialization that needs to go in, because what

605
00:35:26.920 --> 00:35:29.800
we're really doing is we're building a case for the consumer. Right,

606
00:35:29.800 --> 00:35:32.960
We're building a case that will get the bank to

607
00:35:33.039 --> 00:35:35.800
a place where they are comfortable in their underwriters are

608
00:35:36.400 --> 00:35:39.519
that this is a viable bet that we can bet

609
00:35:39.519 --> 00:35:42.239
on this consumer to resume their normal payments if we

610
00:35:42.360 --> 00:35:45.199
just give them a little help on this. And then

611
00:35:45.320 --> 00:35:48.880
the really the most powerful thing we do, honestly is

612
00:35:49.400 --> 00:35:51.559
every three business days we follow up with the bank

613
00:35:51.599 --> 00:35:53.480
to get a status update. I can't tell you how

614
00:35:53.480 --> 00:35:58.679
many times consumers I'd say fifty percent of the people

615
00:35:58.719 --> 00:36:02.400
I talk to say he did that. I submitted an

616
00:36:02.440 --> 00:36:06.159
application three months ago. I never heard anything. And it's

617
00:36:06.239 --> 00:36:09.239
it's human condition stuff, you know, like we convince ourselves

618
00:36:09.239 --> 00:36:12.199
when we're in these downtrodden places that it's the bank's

619
00:36:12.280 --> 00:36:15.639
job to chase us. No, it's not. It's your job

620
00:36:15.639 --> 00:36:18.800
to chase the bank. I have yet, I've been doing

621
00:36:18.800 --> 00:36:21.480
this for a long time, and I don't think maybe

622
00:36:21.519 --> 00:36:25.519
once that I've ever submitted an assistance application that the

623
00:36:25.559 --> 00:36:31.000
bank deemed complete. There is no such thing. Every single time,

624
00:36:31.079 --> 00:36:34.039
there's missing documentation or further documentation.

625
00:36:34.320 --> 00:36:37.239
So it's really it's underwriting again, absolutely sure.

626
00:36:37.440 --> 00:36:39.280
No, it doesn't even get it doesn't even get to

627
00:36:39.400 --> 00:36:43.639
underwriting until the bank deems it certified complete. Okay. That

628
00:36:43.679 --> 00:36:46.400
process can take anywhere from two to six weeks to

629
00:36:46.440 --> 00:36:49.000
get a bank on the same page, and for all

630
00:36:49.039 --> 00:36:52.039
parties to say, yep, it's ready for underwriting.

631
00:36:52.440 --> 00:36:55.239
Now in the meantime, are they okay with not getting

632
00:36:55.239 --> 00:36:55.679
a payment?

633
00:36:57.599 --> 00:37:01.840
Okay? Is a tough statement. Are right? But here's the

634
00:37:01.880 --> 00:37:05.880
important thing. They have not and will not pause any

635
00:37:05.960 --> 00:37:12.800
foreclosure proceedings until the file is under review, certified complete,

636
00:37:13.119 --> 00:37:16.079
gets it under review. During the review period, they will

637
00:37:16.119 --> 00:37:20.559
pause further foreclosure proceedings. It won't take one more step

638
00:37:20.760 --> 00:37:24.440
until the review is underway. Until the review is it

639
00:37:24.480 --> 00:37:25.840
spits out a results letter.

640
00:37:26.320 --> 00:37:30.880
Right, So what is the difference between collection efforts and foreclosure.

641
00:37:33.320 --> 00:37:37.960
Well, foreclosure is you know, the worst besides bankruptcy in

642
00:37:37.960 --> 00:37:41.480
America as far as credit is related. Bankruptcy and foreclosure

643
00:37:41.519 --> 00:37:44.000
are very similar. They're public events that go onto your

644
00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:49.119
credit report that make you unbankable in traditional lending for

645
00:37:49.239 --> 00:37:52.760
extended period of time. So foreclosure is when a it's

646
00:37:52.800 --> 00:37:58.360
a secured debt, right, so boats, cars, homes, that's secured

647
00:37:58.800 --> 00:38:03.159
debt that has collateral, and they're coming back and taking

648
00:38:03.159 --> 00:38:07.239
that collateral because you know, we may raise families in

649
00:38:07.280 --> 00:38:10.199
these homes, and we may have great memories and bad memories,

650
00:38:10.239 --> 00:38:13.000
but in the ice bank, it's simply collateral. That's all

651
00:38:13.039 --> 00:38:13.440
it is.

652
00:38:13.480 --> 00:38:15.280
Property Yep, that's it.

653
00:38:15.360 --> 00:38:21.000
It's collateralized debt and so and the collection banks kind

654
00:38:21.000 --> 00:38:24.039
of stop trying to collect after a while. And what

655
00:38:24.239 --> 00:38:28.159
really frustrates the consumer is once you fall two months

656
00:38:28.199 --> 00:38:31.840
behind in America mortgage, they won't take your money unless

657
00:38:31.840 --> 00:38:35.639
it's all of it. And so people I hear it constantly.

658
00:38:35.679 --> 00:38:38.000
We tried to make a payment, they won't take my money.

659
00:38:38.039 --> 00:38:40.800
They won't take my money. And so these people really

660
00:38:40.920 --> 00:38:44.239
just not in the know, and they shouldn't be. Don't

661
00:38:44.320 --> 00:38:48.039
understand that, Yes, the banks stop taking your money because

662
00:38:48.079 --> 00:38:50.840
you either have to pay it all or you have

663
00:38:50.920 --> 00:38:54.320
to go through some sort of program with them to

664
00:38:54.440 --> 00:38:57.440
flush it all out and figure out where you stand.

665
00:38:58.320 --> 00:39:02.039
And I've had people send bank, send checks to the

666
00:39:02.079 --> 00:39:06.440
bank for five months and the bank just never cast them.

667
00:39:06.639 --> 00:39:09.119
They won't do it. And so once you fall behind,

668
00:39:09.440 --> 00:39:13.320
they really they don't tried particularly hard to collect the money.

669
00:39:13.320 --> 00:39:17.159
They send letters, they call, but they're you know, after

670
00:39:17.280 --> 00:39:19.760
two months, they're not looking for you to make a payment.

671
00:39:20.159 --> 00:39:23.880
They're just notifying of you of your rights. They're letting

672
00:39:23.920 --> 00:39:27.760
you know that the ninety day right to cure period

673
00:39:27.840 --> 00:39:31.719
has begun, that they're following the all the verbiage in

674
00:39:31.800 --> 00:39:34.360
a loan, you know, the seventy page loan doc that

675
00:39:34.440 --> 00:39:35.440
no one ever reads.

676
00:39:36.000 --> 00:39:39.679
Yeah, they're they're fulfilling their obligation in the events.

677
00:39:40.199 --> 00:39:43.159
That's it. That what they are effectively doing is they're

678
00:39:43.199 --> 00:39:45.840
hedging their bet and they're protecting themselves to be able

679
00:39:45.880 --> 00:39:50.599
to foreclose on the property legally. That's really all a

680
00:39:50.639 --> 00:39:51.719
bank begins to do.

681
00:39:52.079 --> 00:39:54.639
So are they once they understand what you're doing? Are

682
00:39:54.639 --> 00:39:58.519
they the bank now generally happy to hear from you?

683
00:39:58.719 --> 00:40:01.920
I mean maybe happy is a strong word, but cooperative.

684
00:40:01.599 --> 00:40:04.960
It's phenomenal. And you said you were a sales consultant,

685
00:40:04.960 --> 00:40:07.079
And I try to explain this to these people all

686
00:40:07.119 --> 00:40:12.519
the day. All it takes is charm, understanding and a

687
00:40:12.559 --> 00:40:17.000
little salesmanship with a bank something that the person the

688
00:40:17.119 --> 00:40:22.840
debtor is incapable of providing. And that's that emotional barrier.

689
00:40:23.360 --> 00:40:25.599
And maybe knowledge too, for sure, right of.

690
00:40:25.559 --> 00:40:29.039
Course, sure, right, so it's and so I have no

691
00:40:29.159 --> 00:40:33.320
problem being cheering. A bank doesn't piss me off, ever,

692
00:40:33.800 --> 00:40:35.840
because it's not my If it was my problem it

693
00:40:36.000 --> 00:40:38.599
was me, I'd be throwing stuff and I'd be pissed.

694
00:40:38.639 --> 00:40:42.679
And that's the average consumer when they are the ones

695
00:40:42.760 --> 00:40:45.760
up against it. Now, me coming in and being that

696
00:40:45.840 --> 00:40:49.800
go between, I'm able to accomplish more than a pissed

697
00:40:49.800 --> 00:40:52.119
off consumer can. On hold.

698
00:40:54.280 --> 00:40:56.320
One of the stats I wanted people to hear, and

699
00:40:56.320 --> 00:41:00.280
this is conditional, So just Mike, you know this, this

700
00:41:00.400 --> 00:41:03.599
is for the audience. Now, stat was one percent of

701
00:41:03.639 --> 00:41:06.360
the time, you guys are able to save the home

702
00:41:06.440 --> 00:41:10.800
from foreclosure if the homeowner stays in consistent contact and

703
00:41:10.840 --> 00:41:18.760
provides all the documentation and doesn't quite Yeah, homeowners let

704
00:41:18.840 --> 00:41:23.320
go of the percisions required. And that's an emotional thing too, right,

705
00:41:23.800 --> 00:41:26.880
They get tired, they get beat down.

706
00:41:26.960 --> 00:41:32.360
Perhaps, yeah, they don't. It's like I said, I think

707
00:41:32.400 --> 00:41:35.440
I said that if you're behind on your mortgage payments,

708
00:41:35.480 --> 00:41:38.199
you have other problems in your life. Yeah, and those

709
00:41:38.239 --> 00:41:41.360
other problems are pressing, and they are daily, and they

710
00:41:41.480 --> 00:41:46.159
are incessant, and they are deeply emotional typically and that

711
00:41:46.239 --> 00:41:51.079
was certainly my experience. And whether that's divorce or God forbid,

712
00:41:51.199 --> 00:41:53.840
you lost your partner or whatever it is, there are

713
00:41:53.840 --> 00:41:59.239
things that make your house feel inconsequential or certainly the bank.

714
00:41:59.480 --> 00:42:03.119
Yeah, kids sick or God forbid. You know, dying of

715
00:42:03.199 --> 00:42:05.119
cancer is awful, it, you know, right.

716
00:42:05.400 --> 00:42:09.159
It's yes, this tragedy out there and so it's but

717
00:42:09.239 --> 00:42:11.880
that is absolutely true. One hundred percent of the time,

718
00:42:11.960 --> 00:42:16.199
you can avoid foreclosure. There is always another option. And

719
00:42:16.280 --> 00:42:18.239
one of the struggles that one of the hardest things

720
00:42:18.239 --> 00:42:20.320
that I ever faced in my life, and it was

721
00:42:20.400 --> 00:42:23.719
it was denial based and it was a failure to

722
00:42:23.760 --> 00:42:28.400
accept a truth that I was not prepared to accept.

723
00:42:28.400 --> 00:42:31.559
And so many people this is a commonality, and I

724
00:42:31.639 --> 00:42:33.920
wish someone like me had sat down and looked me

725
00:42:33.960 --> 00:42:35.440
in the eye and said, I just want you to

726
00:42:35.519 --> 00:42:38.159
understand that at some stage of this game, you are

727
00:42:38.199 --> 00:42:41.119
going to have to leave this home. Yeah, and the

728
00:42:41.119 --> 00:42:43.119
only choice that you really have is are you going

729
00:42:43.159 --> 00:42:44.599
to do it on the bank's terms or are you

730
00:42:44.679 --> 00:42:45.920
going to do it on your terms?

731
00:42:46.119 --> 00:42:46.840
That's really good.

732
00:42:47.199 --> 00:42:50.079
Yeah, And that's the reality. And that is the hardest

733
00:42:50.079 --> 00:42:53.480
conversation I have with people, and the hardest reality to

734
00:42:53.599 --> 00:42:57.079
face because we look around and so many times people

735
00:42:57.199 --> 00:42:58.880
can't see the forest through the trees. And I was

736
00:42:58.880 --> 00:43:02.840
tremendously guilty of it mine myself. The actual cause of

737
00:43:02.880 --> 00:43:05.360
the problems in a lot of these people's life is

738
00:43:05.400 --> 00:43:12.159
the home. They can't afford it. It's not reasonable circumstances

739
00:43:12.199 --> 00:43:17.800
have changed, but we grow entitled because it's ours. We

740
00:43:17.840 --> 00:43:20.519
think it's ours, but the reality is until the bank

741
00:43:20.599 --> 00:43:25.679
is paid off, it's not ours. And so those feelings

742
00:43:26.239 --> 00:43:30.599
are very real and raw, and people do not want

743
00:43:30.639 --> 00:43:32.840
to face the reality that they are going to have

744
00:43:32.920 --> 00:43:35.679
to leave their home fact if that is in fact true,

745
00:43:35.760 --> 00:43:40.119
and we've exhausted every assistance opportunity. One of the crazy

746
00:43:40.199 --> 00:43:42.239
things that's happening right now that I've never seen, and

747
00:43:42.239 --> 00:43:43.960
I don't think ever in the history of the real

748
00:43:44.079 --> 00:43:47.800
estate market this has ever been true. I'm not recommending this,

749
00:43:49.360 --> 00:43:55.360
but we have sold properties this year that the people

750
00:43:55.400 --> 00:43:58.480
didn't pay their mortgage for three years and they walked

751
00:43:58.480 --> 00:43:59.400
away with them back.

752
00:44:00.760 --> 00:44:00.960
Wow.

753
00:44:01.039 --> 00:44:04.519
And so we recently sold a home for a woman

754
00:44:04.719 --> 00:44:06.760
that she hadn't paid her mortgage in three years, and

755
00:44:06.800 --> 00:44:08.400
she got a check for one hundred and ninety six

756
00:44:08.440 --> 00:44:11.159
thousand dollars at the closing. And that's because of the

757
00:44:11.239 --> 00:44:17.039
completely unreasonable and not real appreciation in values. Values have

758
00:44:17.199 --> 00:44:21.159
gone up so much in America. When you fall behind

759
00:44:21.199 --> 00:44:25.000
on your mortgage, if you do that long enough, you're underwater.

760
00:44:26.320 --> 00:44:30.880
But with the ridiculous appreciation in values, people are literally

761
00:44:30.920 --> 00:44:33.880
going a year, two, sometimes three, not paying their mortgage

762
00:44:33.920 --> 00:44:36.519
at all, selling their house traditionally and they still get

763
00:44:36.519 --> 00:44:39.039
a bag of money. Wow. I've never seen it in

764
00:44:39.079 --> 00:44:42.519
my life, and I probably won't ever again. But again,

765
00:44:42.519 --> 00:44:46.079
I'm not recommending that it's not a sound prospect.

766
00:44:46.199 --> 00:44:48.880
But so Crystal Ball, because you brought it up. Yeah,

767
00:44:48.920 --> 00:44:51.920
where do you see? Where do you see I was

768
00:44:51.960 --> 00:44:53.599
going to say rates, that's not the right question. Where

769
00:44:53.599 --> 00:44:55.679
do you see home values going in the next couple

770
00:44:55.760 --> 00:44:56.559
few years.

771
00:44:57.360 --> 00:45:00.960
Cm being tremendously adjusted. I I think that we have

772
00:45:01.000 --> 00:45:02.519
an inventory problem in America.

773
00:45:02.639 --> 00:45:05.960
We don't en up housing, especially in New England, Massachusetts

774
00:45:06.000 --> 00:45:06.599
in particularly right.

775
00:45:07.000 --> 00:45:09.559
Sure, it's very colonized and there's not a lot of land,

776
00:45:09.559 --> 00:45:11.119
and you don't see a lot of track housing and

777
00:45:11.159 --> 00:45:14.000
developments being you know, and so it's a building problem.

778
00:45:14.079 --> 00:45:16.159
But the reality is that there are a lot of

779
00:45:16.159 --> 00:45:19.679
people in golden handcuffs. Yeah, A lot of people out

780
00:45:19.719 --> 00:45:22.280
of my friends, whatever, my family are in golden handcuffs

781
00:45:22.320 --> 00:45:24.880
and golden handcuffs. Are I don't really love your house,

782
00:45:24.920 --> 00:45:27.199
but I love my two point five percent rate. Yeah,

783
00:45:27.679 --> 00:45:31.559
And so even if someone's famili's expanding or their their

784
00:45:31.599 --> 00:45:35.679
circumstances have changed, and they're they're spreading the barrier of

785
00:45:35.719 --> 00:45:39.599
their home. They'll sit tight because in order to level

786
00:45:39.679 --> 00:45:43.639
up to the five bedroom, three and a half bath colonial,

787
00:45:44.719 --> 00:45:48.639
your mortgage payment's going to quadruple. Wow. And so people

788
00:45:48.639 --> 00:45:51.880
are staying in their homes longer because even if you

789
00:45:51.880 --> 00:45:54.360
didn't buy in twenty twenty and twenty twenty one, you

790
00:45:54.440 --> 00:45:58.159
refined if you if you were in a place where

791
00:45:58.159 --> 00:46:01.320
you could, you refine into a very low interest, thirty

792
00:46:01.400 --> 00:46:06.400
year fixed mortgage. They're not going anywhere. And so I

793
00:46:06.440 --> 00:46:09.599
don't see until the inventory problem is solved, and I

794
00:46:09.639 --> 00:46:13.000
don't know what does that. And historically in real estate,

795
00:46:13.599 --> 00:46:18.320
if there's a job problem, it'll fix the inventory problem

796
00:46:18.400 --> 00:46:23.199
because people will start selling or God forbid losing their homes. Right.

797
00:46:23.239 --> 00:46:26.199
But I would say that our issue in real estate

798
00:46:26.199 --> 00:46:29.480
today is an inventory problem. We don't have sufficient inventory

799
00:46:29.599 --> 00:46:33.320
still today even with rates six and a half seven percent. Yeah,

800
00:46:33.360 --> 00:46:36.760
there are six to eight well qualified buyers for every

801
00:46:36.800 --> 00:46:40.880
home on the market today. Wow. And is as long

802
00:46:40.920 --> 00:46:43.840
as that's the case, then demand will remain high and

803
00:46:43.920 --> 00:46:44.960
soul will values.

804
00:46:46.639 --> 00:46:48.679
All right, we need to start wrapping up. I have

805
00:46:48.719 --> 00:46:54.280
a few more questions here. Who in the audience both

806
00:46:54.320 --> 00:46:56.440
listening and viewing, and those that are going to listen

807
00:46:56.519 --> 00:47:00.440
to this later in podcast form. Who should they? Who?

808
00:47:00.639 --> 00:47:04.400
Excuse me, who in that audience should reach out to you? Why?

809
00:47:04.719 --> 00:47:07.280
And the contact infos and the cross You don't have

810
00:47:07.280 --> 00:47:09.400
to talk about that, but who should reach out and why?

811
00:47:09.920 --> 00:47:12.599
Anybody struggling to make their mortgage payments.

812
00:47:13.159 --> 00:47:14.960
And sooner the better, right, Yeah?

813
00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:17.920
Absolutely, Time is the enemy in these situations. The sooner

814
00:47:18.000 --> 00:47:20.480
you act, the sooner you do something, the more options

815
00:47:20.480 --> 00:47:23.039
are available to you by the bank. You don't have

816
00:47:23.079 --> 00:47:26.719
to wait until it becomes public record. Here in Massachusetts,

817
00:47:26.760 --> 00:47:28.599
it's you know, it's hard to say exactly, but it's

818
00:47:28.639 --> 00:47:31.880
about six months of non payment and you will see

819
00:47:31.880 --> 00:47:35.320
a bank make a public recording of a notice of

820
00:47:35.320 --> 00:47:37.239
intent to foreclose. You don't have to wait for that

821
00:47:37.360 --> 00:47:40.880
to happen. The truth of the matter is ninety five

822
00:47:40.920 --> 00:47:44.559
percent of US households, when they fall two months behind

823
00:47:44.599 --> 00:47:47.599
on their mortgage, they never catch up on their own. Wow.

824
00:47:48.360 --> 00:47:50.800
And so yeah, those are chunk payments.

825
00:47:50.880 --> 00:47:53.800
Yeah. Yeah. The story that we tell ourselves in our

826
00:47:53.840 --> 00:47:55.760
head that we're going to figure this out, We're gonna

827
00:47:55.920 --> 00:47:57.679
don't wait, don't wait.

828
00:47:59.360 --> 00:48:01.960
That's good Hey, last question a little more lighthearted. What

829
00:48:02.000 --> 00:48:02.960
do you do when you're not working?

830
00:48:05.719 --> 00:48:10.239
Let's see, I ski, I like the snowmobile. Travel. Travel

831
00:48:10.320 --> 00:48:13.159
is really my favorite thing to do. We travel a lot.

832
00:48:13.800 --> 00:48:17.320
Yep, same, we do that and we ski. So really

833
00:48:17.360 --> 00:48:19.280
a pleasure to have you here. I really appreciate your

834
00:48:19.320 --> 00:48:22.599
time and thanks for sharing, and people can reach out

835
00:48:22.599 --> 00:48:27.000
to you. Help at hopefohardship dot com is your email

836
00:48:27.039 --> 00:48:30.199
address the website of course help The number four Hardship

837
00:48:30.199 --> 00:48:34.079
all one word dot com phone number was in the

838
00:48:34.159 --> 00:48:36.119
crawl as well. I'll share it real quick. Five oh

839
00:48:36.159 --> 00:48:40.039
eight five zero one nine two one four five zero

840
00:48:40.079 --> 00:48:42.519
eight five zero one nine two one four Mike, thank

841
00:48:42.599 --> 00:48:43.159
you so much.

842
00:48:43.559 --> 00:48:44.920
Thank you great to meet you.

843
00:48:45.280 --> 00:48:48.199
Pleasure and thanks everybody for watching and listening. This is

844
00:48:48.199 --> 00:48:51.280
a show about business and business. Just if you've got

845
00:48:51.280 --> 00:48:54.719
concerns about the sales effectiveness of your company, whether your

846
00:48:54.719 --> 00:48:57.840
sales team is you or small, or if it's really large,

847
00:48:57.880 --> 00:48:59.639
it's okay either way. Feel free to reach out to

848
00:48:59.639 --> 00:49:03.280
me my many email address. This is kevinat Winning Businessradio

849
00:49:03.360 --> 00:49:06.480
dot com. Our company is Winning Incorporated. We're part of

850
00:49:06.519 --> 00:49:10.480
Sandler Training. We develop sales teams into high achievers and

851
00:49:10.599 --> 00:49:14.440
sales leaders into true coaches and mentors. We're not a

852
00:49:14.480 --> 00:49:17.119
fit for everybody, but hey, if that resonates, maybe we

853
00:49:17.119 --> 00:49:19.760
should have a conversation. Thank you one for another job

854
00:49:19.800 --> 00:49:22.719
well done. He's our producer and engineer. Join us again

855
00:49:22.760 --> 00:49:25.800
next Monday, December sixteenth. We'll do it again. Until then,

856
00:49:25.840 --> 00:49:26.880
this is Kevin Helen.

857
00:49:26.719 --> 00:49:30.800
In you have been listening to Winning Business Radio with

858
00:49:30.880 --> 00:49:33.800
your host, Kevin Helene. If you missed any part of

859
00:49:33.840 --> 00:49:37.440
this episode, the podcast is available on Talk for Podcasting

860
00:49:37.599 --> 00:49:42.079
and iHeartRadio. For more information and questions, go to Winning

861
00:49:42.199 --> 00:49:45.679
Business Radio dot com or check us out on social media.

862
00:49:45.840 --> 00:49:47.880
Tune in again next week and every Monday at four

863
00:49:47.880 --> 00:49:51.360
pm Eastern Time to listen live to Winning Business Radio

864
00:49:51.639 --> 00:49:56.239
on W four Cyradio W fourcy dot com. Until then,

865
00:49:56.599 --> 00:50:00.480
let's succeed where others have failed and win in business

866
00:50:00.519 --> 00:50:04.119
with Kevin Helena and Winning Business Radio