All Forum Posts by: Mark Brian

Please do not read something into my statement that is not there. I did not say the agents are not correctly valuing the properties in the hope of this getting listings. As a matter of fact, incorrectly valuing the property will be a red flag causing the agent to not only get fewer BPO assignments but effectively eliminate any chance of being assigned a REO listing.

The agents do BPOs to start developing a relationship with the banks. Again, incorrectly valuing the property will be akin to the agent shooting themselves in the foot.

On another real estate agent forum I belong to with a HUGE BPO section, one of the biggest complaints is a bank that does not want to hear the truth about property values being less than what the bank thought.

if the agent is paid to do a drive by then that is what they are paid to do & what they will do. The banks must pay for an interior.

While it may be true that some agents do BPOs because they need money, more often than not they do them in the hopes of getting REO listings or they do nothing but list REOs and perform BPOs.

Often, the homeowner is not going to be glad to see you and as an agent you must take into serious consideration your security when doing a BPO. I have heard many horror stories of disgruntled homeowners confronting agents doing a drive by.

If the bank wants to pay for an interior, then the agent will do one. But if you are not paid, and thereby authorized to go onto the property, you will be trespassing. Often the BPO instructions specifically tell you to not go onto the property.

I did them for a while but have pretty much quit. Not worth the time for the small amount of money to me.

Received this in an email from a local lender last night http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/waivpropflip2010.pdf

Excellent point Rob! I cannot count how many advertisements I get and almost immediately are thrown away, usually with a roll of the yes and a snicker. Promises or pitches mean nothing, contracts followed by actually closing will do much more than any advertisement.

I suggest that you instead of spending money on agents spend on enhancing your marketing to homeowners, either print ads, SEO/PPC/websites, etc.

Not sure what caused it, but you must be the property owner and not just have an equitable interest to list a property in my MLS. Not saying it is illegal, just will not fly according to my MLS's rules. There is a difference between illegal according to state/federal law, and a violation of MLS rules sometimes.

Often, I think the agents say illegal when they should just say I do not want to do this for whatever reason. Since my listing contract states the listing is with the "Sole Property Owner", I could not list with someone having only an "equitable interest" anyway.

You can negotiate your split with the broker, even if not working with REOs. But if you can produce the numbers, the broker should be willing to let you get a better split.

For someone without adequate experience it can be great IF the buyers agent is great OR it can be terrible IF the buyers agent is not great. I would suggest asking the local REI club members about who they would use in your situation.

Sometimes the listing agent and at least one other agent perform BPOs. Sometimes the bank even gets an appraisal for more expensive properties.

You can try to contact the listing agent about the BPO but since they said they would contact you when the property was listed, it means just that.

You can make an offer contingent on inspection, just remember that every contingency can make your offer appear weaker. Contact the agent to see if you can do your inspection now.

Yes you need to already have a pre approval letter or POF in hand before submitting an offer since this is a requirement on the majority of REO listings.

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