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Company responds to broker inquiries

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By SHANNON BEHNKEN

sbehnken@tampatrib.com

Published: May 5, 2009

TAMPA - Keller Williams Realty Inc. e-mailed a letter last week to its associates nationwide distancing itself with the Short Sales Riches system, which teaches investors to buy homes in foreclosure and flip them the same day for a profit.

The system is run by Keller Williams broker Chris McLaughlin, a lawyer, and Nathan Jurewicz, one of his Tampa agents. The program was the subject of a Tampa Tribune story Sunday.

The e-mail tells agents to "exercise caution before aligning with distressed property vendors," and was sent late last week, after the Tribune called the company with questions.

"Please note that this short sales program ... is not affiliated with and has not been approved or endorsed by Keller Williams Realty, Inc.," the letter states. Ellen Marks, a spokesman for Austin, Texas-based Keller Williams said she could not comment on the letter or the program.

The partners' spokeswoman, Rosemary Goudreau, said the letter is a routine reminder to associates and a non-issue because the partners never asked to be endorsed. Vendors must be in business for at least two years to apply, she said.

Jurewicz, who calls himself "The Short Sale Kid," has become an Internet sensation among real estate insiders through his YouTube videos. He indentifies distressed homeowners and uses an option-contract, filed at the courthouse, to obtain an exclusive right to buy the home for a year at a specific price.

Under the Short Sales Riches program, when a buyer is found to pay a higher price, the property is bought from the lender and immediately sold. Jurewicz says he flips as many as 10 homes and makes as much as $100,000 a month, including fees and commissions.

Jurewicz says his system provides a service by helping clear backlogs of foreclosed properties off bank books sooner and giving distressed homeowners a way out of foreclosure. Industry critics say that banks may be losing out on thousands of dollars on each sale when the industry is receiving taxpayer bailouts. Others say the contracts tie up property so that people with popular FHA loans and some types of conventional loans are prevented from buying the properties.

Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 259-7804.

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