Residential Appraisals

Table of Contents

Cover Page Pg 1
Table of Contents Pg 2
About Us Pg 3
Mission Statement Pg 4
Ethics Pg 4
Company Focus Pg 5
Why Sell with Forte? Pg 6
Value Added Services Pg 7
Types of Auctions Pg 8
Marketing Campaign Plan Pg 9
Seller Prospecting Pg 10, 11, 12
Servicing Our Clients Pg 13
Auction Process (Pre-Auction) Pg 14, 15, 16
Auction Process (Auction Day) Pg 17
Successful Bidding Flow Chart Pg 18
Successful Bidding Flow Chart Key Pg 19
Auction Process (Post-Auction) Pg 20
Learning to Use BaseCamp Pg 21, 22, 23
FAQ’s Pg 24

2

About Us

Forte Auctions was created in 2009 and began with an idea to auction a single home.
Since its inception, our business model has evolved in such a way that it will revolutionize
the real estate auction industry by uniting buyers and sellers in a large, nationally
advertised, multi-property auction. Forte has now grown to 8 partners, all with a unique
set of skills and experience that will lift Forte Auctions to the top of the industry. We are
looking to fill a few more roles but our current partners include:

• Ken Monro • Eric Hird
CEO General Counsel
km@forteauctions.com eh@forteauctions.com
Cell: 936-647-7399 Cell: 832-443-4300

• Jon Usher • Merritt Lawn
Executive VP of Bus. Devel. Broker
ju@forteauctions.com ml@forteauctions.com
Cell: 936-203-2527 Cell: 281-748-6525

• Jim Hynes • Bob Gore
VP of Commercial Real Estate Sales Associate
jh@forteauctions.com bg@forteauctions.com
Cell: 936-522-6615 Cell: 713-828-4631

• Daniel Korreck • Tom Fitchett
Operations Manager Sales Associate
dk@forteauctions.com tf@forteauctions.com
Cell: 936-445-7870 Cell: 281-236-9598

3

Mission Statement

We are dedicated to bringing maximum value to all active participants of the
real estate industry. We will provide first class customer service and unite the
buyers and sellers of real estate through well-managed auctions, resulting in
faster sales with less hassle.

Ethics

During your course of work at Forte Auctions, you may come in contact with
sensitive information such as a client’s personal information, financial
information, and/or minimum reserve amounts. Any disclosure and/or
communication of this information to any person(s) or company(s) that is/are
not affiliated with Forte Auctions is strictly prohibited. Any violation or breach of
ethics can result in disciplinary actions up to and including immediate
termination. Our reputation for honesty and integrity are paramount.

4

Company Focus

Short Term: [Year 1]

• Launch subsidiaries to 4 major Texas cities focused on real estate
• Conduct segmented Live and/or Online multi-property auctions in each city every 2-
3 months
• Engage and incentivize brokers and agents to market Forte Auctions to their sellers
and buyers
• Offer real estate related services through strategic partners
• Continuously improve website to become and remain superior to competitors
• Establish and maintain a dominant presence on Facebook & Twitter around real
estate and auctions
• Forge strategic alliances with local and regional banks to liquidate their default and
REO properties
• Join real estate and auction associations

Long Term: [Years 2-5]

• Launch subsidiaries in every major metropolitan city in every state
• Expand product offering to notes, boats, collectable cars, equipment through
business development managers
• Forge strategic alliances with national banks

5

Why Sell at Auction with Forte?
Simply put, for only $295, sellers can take advantage of nation-wide auction marketing,
greatly increasing their property’s exposure and giving them a great chance to sell
quickly with little to no risk. The key word is quickly! With average selling times being
anywhere from 6-12 months, we offer the best, most efficient way for sellers to get out,
get their money back, and stop the bleeding. Forte Auctions is the perfect way to sell
your property if you must sell now!

Below are some key points you can hit when you are prospecting for new sellers.

•The seller sets the reserve price and approves or rejects any winning bid
• The auction date and terms of the sale are predetermined
• The auction marketing creates urgency and maintains buyer’s interest
• Auctions attract motivated buyers who are ready to make a commitment
• The seller can sell “As-Is” with few to no contingencies
• Auctions determine the true market value through open, competitive bidding
• Sellers can avoid high carrying costs and lengthy negotiations
• More and more buyers are buying at auctions
• Real estate agents have incentives to bring buyers to auctions
• Sellers can stand out from the thousands of other properties on the market
• Local foreclosures have distorted true property values everywhere
• If the property has unique features, they are hard to value accurately
• If the property has been on the market for long with minimal activity
• They can sell quickly so they can take advantage of the buyer’s market
• The closing date is set in the Terms & Conditions

6

Value-Added Services

Besides making Live and Online auctions available to our Sellers, we are going
to offer a few “Value Added” services that can make selling their property either
more likely or just easier. These services are available out there in the market
without going through Forte, however, our strategic partners provide these
services to our clients at a reduced price. The following services are not yet
available but are expected to be in the very near future:

•Virtual Tour-This option can really make the Seller’s property stand out
through more pictures and more importantly, a video of their entire
property. This service may be held in house or may be outsourced.

•Inspection- Most, if not all Buyers will have an inspection done on a
property they want to bid on. So why not go through one of our guys and
get it done for less? This service will be outsourced.

•Appraisals- Most, if not all Buyers will have an inspection done on a
property they want to bid on. So why not go through one of our guys and
get it done for less? This service will be outsourced.

•Open House Host- Most Sellers will already be represented by an Agent
or will end up being represented by one of ours. In the event that the
Seller does not want any representation, they are responsible for holding
the 2 Open Houses for their property. If they don’t want to be responsible
for that, they can choose this option and we will take care of that angle.
This service may be held in house or may be outsourced.

Keep these services in mind so when these become available, we can not only
earn additional revenue but also provide a better, more pleasurable experience
for our clients. Please consult management for an update on which value-
added services are currently available.

7

Types of Auctions
Reserve – Seller sets an undisclosed minimum acceptable sale price, and reserves the
right to accept or reject any winning bid. All properties are auctioned with reserve
unless otherwise stated.
Absolute – Property will be sold to the highest bidder, regardless of price. No
minimum bid will be associated with the property. Seller may not reject winning bid.
Minimum Bid – Seller has agreed to accept any offer equal to or greater than the
advertised minimum bid.

Multi-Property Auctions

Initially, due to our current website’s capability, Forte Auctions is starting up with Live
Auctions only. Once we have the funding, we plan to invest in a new, more advanced
website that will have an Online Auction capability, as well as a few other functions
that will be announced later. At that time, we will offer an Online option for our clients,
which will really add to the value that we can provide them. The online auctions are
available for those people that don’t desire a live auction or for those “Second Chance”
properties that didn’t sell in the live auction. To get an understanding on the difference
between the two auctions , please read below.

Live Auctions are normally held in a hotel ballroom to accommodate a large crowd.
Live auctions are exciting, fast paced events where pre-qualified bidders compete on
properties that they have researched in the weeks leading up to the auction. Bidding
frenzies are likely to ensue when two or more bidders are seeking the same property.
Winning bidders are then escorted to the documentation area to sign the purchase
agreement and open escrow. Auctioneers can usually auction 20-30 properties per
hour.
Online Auctions, similar to an eBay auction, allow maximum participation with the
convenience of bidding from home. Bidding usually occurs over the course of 5-10
days, with predetermined starting and ending dates. When the high bid is near market
value, online auctions provide bidders with valuable time to decide whether or not to
increase the bid by one more increment. Winning bidders are required to sign the
purchase agreement and open escrow within 3 business days after the auction. Online
auctions are available to new Sellers for a fee or for free if it’s a “Second Chance”
property that didn’t sell in the live auction that was held prior to the online auction.
8

Marketing Campaign Plan

The auction marketing campaign is an 8-12 week, nation-wide blitz campaign. The
auction event and individual properties are aggressively marketed locally, regionally
and nationally leading up to the auction. Since the seller’s agent continues to represent
the seller, all marketing methods of a traditional sale, such as MLS, remain in place. All
properties will be individually featured on our website with useful information for
buyers, including direct links to the property’s MLS listing and other relevant sites.
Below are many ways that we will be aggressively marketing our seller’s properties. The
main thing to remember when speaking to a prospective seller about the marketing we
provide is that we will market the auction and their property NATION-WIDE!!

• Yard Signs
• Property Information Packages
• Open Houses
• Strategic Alliances
• Direct Mail
• Google Adwords
• Email Marketing
• Newspaper Ads
• Real Estate Magazines
• Real Estate Websites
• Auction Websites
• Social Networking
• Real Estate Blogs
• Craigslist and more…

9

Seller Prospecting
On to the good stuff. Ultimately, this is the meat and potatoes of Forte. Without sellers,
we obviously have no properties to sell, which means no money for us! So lets take
a look at how we plan to target sellers, on both a short term and long term basis.
Essentially, we have the prospecting broken down into 2 phases. Initially, Phase 1
will be followed to establish a foothold in the Houston Market with phase 2 being
implemented after Forte has expanded to a few more cities and has become a little
more established.
I understand that not everyone is a great salesperson, but since we are just starting out,
everyone needs to try their best to promote the growth of the company by
assisting in seller prospecting as much as possible. Once we reach Phase 2, we
should have a few more associates on board that will focus strictly on seller
prospecting. At that time, everyone else can shift the prospecting to these other
associates, leaving more time for you to focus on your real strengths and
responsibilities.
Below is a break down of Phase 1 and 2. Obviously, the more you can prospect the
better, but not everyone is expected to assist and/or contribute to all modes of
prospecting. For example, everyone is expected to assist in Phase 1, Step 1 because
everyone should be able to reach out to their friends and family for listings.
However, only a few such as Jon and Daniel will be responsible for and expected to
assist and/or contribute to Phase 1, Steps 5, 6, and 7. Please consult management
to determine exactly what your specific expectations are.
Phase 1
1. Friends and Family
2. Top Brokers- Sell idea to their Agents
3. Top Agents- Sell idea to Broker and fellow Agents
4. Facebook friends
5. FSBO seller @ Forsalebyowner.com
6. Targeted Trulia search by % and $ decrease
7. HAR.com search by newly listed
Phase 2
1. Small to mid-sized banks
2. Tract builders
3. Customer builders
4. Foreclosure consultants
10

Once you have engaged a prospect and determined that they are interested in
receiving more information about auctioning their property with us, you should
give them one of your business cards. This will accomplish the following:
1) It gives them all of your personal contact info.
2) It gives them the Forte website address, Facebook and Twitter info so
they can do their research prior to our initial engagement, hopefully
lessening the questions/barriers the have for us.
3) It helps to portray Forte Auctions in the most professional light.

An example of a general Forte business card is illustrated below:

In addition to the business card you will give them, you should take the
opportunity to give them a Quick Capture Card to fill out. This will accomplish the
following:
1) Now instead of waiting and hoping that the customer will contact us, the
ball is in our court and we have all the information needed for us to make a
follow-up contact to take control of the situation.
2) It makes us appear to be very professional and prepared to do business.
Instead of pulling out some random piece of paper to take down their info,
you have a nicely printed card they can write it on.

11

An example of the Quick Capture Card is illustrated below:

Once you have the basic information needed to contact the customer, you can
forward that information to management. They will then allocate the customer to
the proper Forte representative for customer follow-up.

Always remember to keep at least a few of your Business and Quick Contact
cards on you at all times because you never know where you may meet your
next lead. You could be at the grocery store or just picking up your kids from
school. Potential clients are everywhere so don’t get caught without the tools to
do your job!

12

The Auction Cycle

This section will cover the Auction Cycle, what it is, and how it effects our client’s ability
to participate in an upcoming auction.

The Auction Cycle is the time frame between the 1st day of registration to the end of
the Auction Day. For now, our auction cycle will last approximately 65 days. Forte
Auctions will designate a specific date that the auction cycle will begin and on that day,
we will allow our clients to start registering for the auction. Once they register, certain
events or Points of Contact (P.O.C.) will occur leading up to the auction. Since a certain
amount of time is required to complete these P.O.C.’s, registration for an auction is only
allowed up to a certain day of the auction cycle (Last Day to Register), which varies
depending on if you’re a Seller or a Buyer.

Sellers
Sellers will need up to 5 weeks to accomplish everything they need to do to participate
in the auction such as the initial communications, signing forms, hosting open houses,
etc. So since the total auction cycle lasts 65 days and the Seller needs up to 5 weeks, a
Seller can only register for an auction within the first 4 weeks of the auction cycle. After
the 28th day of the auction cycle, a Seller will only be able to register and participate in
the next auction cycle.

For example, lets say Forte designates the Auction Cycle to start on Sept 1st with the
auction being held 65 days later on Nov 5th . So Sept 1st is the first day a Seller could
register with Sept 28th being the last day. If a Seller wants to register on Sept 29th, they
can only register for the following Auction.

Buyers
Buyers are a little different than Sellers as they don’t have anything that they need to
do to be ready to participate in an auction. Forte just needs a few days to send them
any necessary docs, such as the Auction Lot Sequence. So Sellers only need to register
at least 3 days before the auction.

So as in the example above, if Forte designates the Auction Cycle to start on Sept 1st
with the auction being held 65 days later on Nov 5th, a Buyer can register up to and on
Nov. 1st.
13

Servicing our Clients

Success! You have found a client that is interested in doing business with Forte
Auctions. Now what? Once you have your clients basic information, which was
hopefully filled out on the Quick Contact card, you will transfer that information
to the Quick Contact form. This form can be located through a link in
Basecamp, the multi-user project management tool that we will cover later in
this manual. All you do is log into Basecamp, go into the “Forms” section and
click on the link titled Quick Contact Form Once you click the link, the form will
load and you can enter your clients information. Once you submit the form, it
will be automatically sent to the proper Forte Rep for processing. Although you
won’t be the one actually processing the client, it is good for you to understand
how we will be servicing them so you and the client know what to expect
leading up to the Auction.

Below you will find the Pre-Auction, Auction Day, and Post-Auction Points of
Contact (P.O.C.) for our Sellers with/without Agents and for Buyers with/without
Agents. These P.O.C.’s show you what is happening on which day. Some
P.O.C.’s occur after a certain number of days from when the Seller or Buyer
registers with us and some P.O.C.’s occur on a certain day of the Auction Cycle,
regardless of when the Seller or Buyer registers.

14

Auction Process (Pre-Auction Day)
Seller with Agent
POC#1- Day of Registration
•Send Introductory email to the Seller & Seller’s Agent
POC#2- 2nd Day from Registration
•Contact the Seller & Seller’s Agent to answer any questions
POC#3- 4th Day from Registration
•If Seller’s Documents and Fee are not yet received, make follow up call to Seller’s
Agent and encourage them to obtain and send to Forte the endorsed Auction By Owner
Agreement and Relevant Addenda, Auction By Owner Agreement and fee
POC#4- 7th Day from Registration - Once Seller’s Documents and Fee are Received
•Mail the lawn sign to the Seller’s Agent
•Schedule any value added services (e.g. Virtual Tour, Inspection, Appraisals, Open
House Host, etc…), if necessary
•Ensure the necessary documents are properly completed/submitted and that the
property is properly uploaded
•Approve the property to go live on the website and allocate it to the next, most
relevant auction
•Upload the property to Auction Flex or Proxibid, if allocated to ONLINE ONLY auction
•Send the Seller & Seller’s Agent an email with a link to their property listing and other
relevant links
•Forte begins to market the property
•Update the property information page to include the Virtual Tour, if applicable
•Call or email the Seller’s Agent and confirm the time and date of the 1st Open House
POC#6- 21st Day from Registration
•Call or email the Seller’s Agent again to re-confirm the time and date of the 1st Open
House
•Call or email the Seller’s Agent and confirm the time and date of the 2nd Open House
•Call or email the Seller’s Agent again to re-confirm the time and date of the 2nd Open
House
POC#8- 43rd Day of the Auction Cycle
•Send the Seller & Seller’s Agent an email with the Auction Lot Sequence
POC#9- 59th Day of the Auction Cycle
•Send the Auction Update email to the Seller & Seller’s Agent

15

Seller without Agent
•Send Introductory email to the Seller
•Contact the Seller to answer any questions
•If Seller’s Documents and Fee are not yet received, make follow up call to Seller and
encourage them to send to Forte the endorsed Auction By Owner Agreement and
Relevant Addenda, Auction By Owner Agreement and fee
POC#4- 7th Day from Registration - Once Seller’s Documents and Fee are Received
•Set the lawn sign
•Schedule any value added services (e.g. Virtual Tour, Inspection, Appraisals, Open
House Host, etc…), if necessary
•Ensure the necessary documents are properly completed/submitted and that the
property is properly uploaded
•Approve the property to go live on the website and allocate it to the next, most
relevant auction
•Upload the property to Auction Flex or Proxibid, if allocated to ONLINE ONLY auction
•Send the Seller an email with a link to their property listing and other relevant links
•Forte begins to market the property
•Update the property information page to include the Virtual Tour, if applicable
•Call or email the Seller or if applicable, the Agent executing the “Value Added” Open
House, and confirm the time and date of the 1st Open House
POC#6- 21st Day from Registration
House, to re-confirm the time and date of the 1st Open House
House, and confirm the time and date of the 2nd Open House
House, to re-confirm the time and date of the 2nd Open House
POC#8- 43rd Day of the Auction Cycle
•Send the Seller an email with the Auction Lot Sequence
•Send the Auction Update email to the Seller
16

Buyer with Agent
Send Introductory email to the Buyer & Buyer’s Agent
Contact the Buyer & Buyer’s Agent to answer any questions
Send the Buyer & Buyer’s Agent an email with the Auction Lot Sequence
Send the Auction Update email to the Buyer & Buyer’s Agent

Buyer without Agent
Send Introductory email to the Buyer
Contact the Buyer to answer any questions
Send the Buyer an email with the Auction Lot Sequence
Send the Auction Update email to the Buyer

17

Auction Process (Auction Day)

Initially, most if not all partners are expected to attend the Live Auctions. It is critical for
everyone to know how the auction process will work so that everyone can help as
efficiently as possible to ensure a successful auction. Below is a color coded chart that
should help clarify how our auction team (The employees and their approximate
stations are in blue will process a successful “Winning Bid”, which will happen in one
of two ways.

1) The Winning Bid was above the reserve price or if the property was
auctioned as Absolute (Follow the Green Steps straight through to the end).

2) The Winning Bid is below the reserve price (Follow the Green Steps but
then deviates to the Red Steps before merging back into the Green Steps).

The setup on the chart is for illustrative purposes and may vary as the setup for different
auctions will surely change depending upon where it is held. This is just to give you an
idea of the who the players are at the auction and their approximate location, which
step in the process their specific functions/roles fills, and the sequence of these
functions/roles that make up a successful Winning Bid.

18

Successful Bidding Flow Chart

19

Successful Bidding Process Flow Chart Key

20

Auction Process (Post-Auction)

As illustrated above in the Successful Bidding Flow Chart, once the buyer
becomes the Winning Bidder and the auction for that specific property is
over, the auction process will continue in one of the following ways:

•If a Winning Bid is placed, Forte contacts Seller (and Seller’s Agent, if
applicable) to approve or reject the Winning Bid.
•If the Winning Bid is rejected by Seller when below the reserve price,
Seller will have the option to provide a counter-offer to Buyer. If the
counter-offer is rejected, Seller is bound to Forte by the terms stated in
the Auction By Owner Agreement.
•If the Winning Bid is rejected when above the reserve price, Seller
cannot provide the Buyer with a counter-offer and is bound to Forte by
the terms stated in the Auction By Owner Agreement.
•If the Winning Bid is Accepted by Seller, Seller (and Seller’s Agent, if
applicable) are contacted to schedule completion of purchase
agreement
•Within a week after the auction, Forte will send an Auction Summary to
Seller (and Seller’s Agent, if applicable).

Once the auction for a specific property is over, the is not much else for us to
do except maintain contact with the title company to ensure a fast and
seamless closing! The Buyer is responsible for securing financing and then
attending the closing, the Seller is responsible for attending the closing, and
the title company that we choose will process the sale just like they would as
if this were a traditional sale. Then Buyer and Seller close and we start the
process all over again.

What if the property doesn’t sell? Initially, nothing. If the property doesn’t sell,
the Seller can move on or relist it in the next scheduled live auction. In the
near future, once we have the capital to invest in a new, more advanced
website that will have an Online Auction capability, if a property doesn’t sell in
the live auction, the seller will have the option to list their property in the
follow-up online auction for free.

21

Learning to Use BaseCamp

This section will cover an online program that everyone should learn how to utilize. You
should already have a personal account ready for your use. Please consult management
for your username and temporary password.
This program is called Basecamp and it can be used as a multi-user project
management tool, which is great, especially for a decentralized group like ourselves. It is
also fairly easy to use. We want to use Basecamp as a place to discuss ideas, track tasks
and milestones, and centralize our files so we are always on the same page, with up-to-
date forms. Long term, I'm sure it will help in other areas too. I understand it may take
some time to adopt this new technology, but please read the benefits listed below and
think how you may be able to utilize this program. As you read below, you will learn how
BaseCamp can make things easier and more efficient for everyone. For additional
information, please visit http://basecamphq.com/tour.

Communication
Project Management is all about communication.
Projects go well when people talk to each other, discuss issues openly, and
communicate clearly. Basecamp is focused on making this easy.
No more messy email threads. Post messages to Basecamp instead.
Instead of scattering emails all over the place, use Basecamp message boards to keep
all the discussions about a project in one centralized location. You can even specify who
can see which messages.
It’s easy to respond to any message.
Basecamp encourages team and client discussion. You can easily add your two cents to
any message.
Comment on just about anything.
You can even leave comments on to-dos and milestones too. This makes it easy for you
to clear up any questions your client or team might have. And since they’re all stored in
Basecamp, everyone knows where to go for the latest information.
Basecamp is best friends with email.
Basecamp can notify other people on your team via email whenever anyone posts a
new message or comment. You can even subscribe to a Daily Digest email for your
project which gives a nicely formatted report of what happened the day before.

22

Share Files

Easily share files, documents, images, and designs with your clients or team.
You can even attach files or pictures to messages, comments, milestones, and to-dos.
All your project files in one place.
Basecamp supports all popular file formats including Microsoft Word, Excel, Photoshop,
PDFs, PNGs, you name it. You can upload and share any kind of file with Basecamp.
Basecamp can even send an email notification to other people on the project when a new
file has been uploaded.
Automatic image previews.
When someone uploads an image (PNG, JPG, GIF), Basecamp will automatically generate a
preview so you can see what the image looks like without having to download it first. It’s
super convenient.
Basecamp keeps track of every version of every file.
When you upload a new version of a file, Basecamp can keep a copy of the old version
around for safe keeping. This makes it easy to go back and see what changed and who
changed it.

Deliver on Time
Assign responsibility, set deadlines, get things done on time the first time.
Basecamp milestones and to-dos help you keep projects on time and on budget.
Assign to-dos with deadlines.
Making to-do lists and adding to-do items literally just takes seconds. Basecamp is
optimized to make the things you do most often really fast and really easy.
Schedule project milestones.
Keep track of what’s due, when it’s due, and who’s responsible for getting it done.
Milestones are great for scheduling project phases, due dates, and deliverables. See
everything that’s coming up on your calendar. Works with Google Calendar, Outlook,
Backpack, .Mac, and iCal.
Track every hour you spend.
Know exactly how much time you've spent on a task or an entire project. You can filter
time reports by team member. You can also export time reports to Excel for further study.
Note: Time tracking is only available on Plus-level accounts and higher.

Reuse Templates
Work on the same kind of project over and over?
Project templates let you set up common to-do lists, milestones, and messages ahead of
time. They’ll save you hours.

23

Templates jump start your project.
Instead of creating new projects from scratch every time, use Basecamp project
templates to set up standardized projects ahead of time. Add to-dos, milestones, and
messages to a template. Then you can base a new project on a template and save
yourself a ton of data entry.
Start working on to-dos right away.
You can also set up templates for only your to-do lists. You might have one for
“Programming tasks” or “QA checklist”. Each time you start a new project your
standardized to-do lists are ready so you and your team can get working right away.

24

FAQ’S

During your employment with Forte Auctions, you will surely be asked many
questions regarding our company, the auction process and the value added
services we can offer. In order to help you be more prepared for this, we
urge you to go through and read the FAQ’s currently listed on the Forte
Website. Become familiar with these as I’m sure you will need to know them
at some point. Knowledge is power so the more you know, the happier and
more informed we keep our clients, and the more money we all make!

Welcome to the Forte Auctions team!

25

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