Florida real estate firms expand beyond Sunshine State

April 1st, 2009

With thousands of homes in foreclosure or selling at deep discounts, South Florida’s brokers and auctioneers have one of the busiest distressed real estate pipelines in the nation.

Nevertheless, some are expanding beyond the Sunshine State to pursue new opportunities. Scott Coloney is one of them. A broker with RE/MAX in Fort Lauderdale, Coloney launched his Foreclosure Response Team of Florida in 2008. He’s expanding his company into Michigan through a strategic alliance with another RE/MAX agency, taking advantage of the property value collapse around Detroit and other areas affected by the state’s industrial slump.

Coloney’s sales, marketing and technology company provides “loss mitigation services,” meaning it tries to speed up the sale of residential and commercial properties facing foreclosure. That requires financial specialists, lawyers, credit consultants and a sales and marketing force.

“I really feel like we have solutions for the market, and to stay in Florida just doesn’t seem right,” Coloney said. “I have a vision to go national with this program. If we can help people sell property through a short sale instead of foreclosure, we help people and ultimately help stabilize the real estate market.”

Click here to read the rest of my story on The Real Deal.

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