Patrick - thanks for sharing that thread. Very interesting. I did sign up for REO Trans but one zip code is free and that is all that I did for now. Looks like I should keep it that way. I signed up about 3 weeks ago and they already ordered from me.

Thu Apr 17 2008, 13:56

Related question to pay REO sites
http://www.trulia.com/voices/Agent2Agent/Does_anyone_use_REO…

Thu Apr 17 2008, 13:33

luke and sonja, the bottom line is that several of the banks I work with go through these pre pay co's. Think about it they have 100's of properties to assign, if they can just go to one site and find agents for all of them in one site.... what you want I think, is reo business, so you have to go where those asset managers are...
good luck
leanne

Wed Apr 16 2008, 20:25

Luke - don't get discouraged. BPO orders seem to come in batches for me. Sometimes I don't get one in a week and then I'll get 10-15 another week. There is really no consistency for me. Now that I am working with a handful of companies on a regular basis they contact me first (I think). There are a few companies (Clear Capital, Landmark) that offer them competitively and you have to be the first to respond. I have signed up with all the Leanne mentioned as well and all of them listed in the book I purchased. I did get a $100 BPO the following day from one of the companies (Landmark). Hang in there! I am a Broker so I am not sure if your agent status makes a difference or not but try to make your bio read as professional as possible and offer the companies the services they want to see, like efficiency, reliability, etc. Oh, by the way I did not sign up for the paid services either....wasn't sure how I felt about that.

Tue Apr 15 2008, 08:12

Hey Luke,

Thanks for asking some great questions, which really got me thinking.

I started doing this in July of 07.
That is when I joined a trustee service.
Thru my Brokers connections, I met a REO Broker who at the time had about 150 listings, he had been doing REO`s for thirty years.
The bad news was all of his business was in the West Valley and I live in the East Valley. However he allows me to advertise his listing Craigslist & Backpage.
So good opens were few and far between. I met a handful of clients from the listings, however they were....well, I can think of three who I have met in person and are actively looking.
So about the middle of January I started working other REO agents, which is what I described in my previous post.

From these open houses my pipeline has over 5 million in it, that`s conservative.
from these open houses I have written 8 contract for 5 clients all except one had counters.

Only one closed, and that one only wrote one contract, no counters, and it was an REO.

Now that I look at that in writing, it looks _ _ _ _ _ _, however those clients and I have a better relationship. They understand the market, and process much better. Each of them, and their children can tell you the difference between a Short Sale, and an REO.

So far 7of these clients are going with me to the Hudson and Marshall Auction May 4th & 5th.
We have about 2 million in buying power, H&M pay a 2% Buyer Broker,.... we`ll see what happens.
http://www.hudsonandmarshall.com/

So...Not a lot of money...yet.

Every morning I check my prospect list, they are looking at listings and saving their favorites, then calling me and asking if I have time to show.

Now Luke Q#2...I am really glad you asked this question this way.

I have only had one agent say no, and tomorrow I will ask him again.

I don`t take over listings. I do an REO search, and simply ask if I can sit it open. The signs I put up are my open house signs, they just say Lender Owned. I will leave the listings up with the Agents/Brokers that I have a good relationship with, and the way you interpret it as taking over. I will not be leaving them up any more.
In fact, most or all of my agent/brokers have at least 30 REO listings. So now, because of your observations Luke, I will put all the listing agents house I am sitting open on the wall. Followed by the rest of the neighborhood. Maybe I will only do the top ten for each price range. I should put a limit on it.

I would hate to have the listing agent walk in and misinterpret what I am doing, In reality I could just put up the listing agents listing, and it would have the same effect.
When I think back ,that was the general way I started, it just evolved into a REO Super store.

Good Day, Good Luck

Mon Apr 14 2008, 21:00

Thank you, Leanne. I have not signed up for any of the paid services. I'm skeptical of business models that require you to pay them for independent contractor work they are hiring you for. I did sign up for all of the services both you and Sonya recommended earlier in this thread. All of them. Not one of them have contacted me yet. I'm not a rookie agent, either. Could it be that I'm a Realtor and not a Broker? I did give my brokerage information.

Mon Apr 14 2008, 16:36

Luke, have you signed up on resnet yet? You should expect to get 2nd bpo's and listings from this site. You also have to keep in mind that their are 1000's of agents trying to get these now. I re entered reo market in 2006. So Patricks idea is a great one to at least create a buy business w/reo's.
good luck
agent leanne

Mon Apr 14 2008, 15:44

I have signed up for every single online service recommended on this thread, and to date I have received zero BPO requests, let alone REO listings. I'm not sure why. Any ideas?

Mon Apr 14 2008, 15:16

What a great idea, Patrick. Thank you for sharing in depth how you have created a marketing campaign off of other agents REO properties. A few questions I have are:
1. The most important question is exactly how successful has this campaign been? How long have you been doing this, and how many closed deals have resulted?
2. What has been your biggest hurdle in getting agents to allow you to take over their listing in such a major way. Putting signs up all around the property and leaving the walls covered in other listings seems a bit beyond what I would imagine agents in my area to allow.

Mon Apr 14 2008, 15:12

Patrick, great idea! That is definitely a good point to focus on REO properties.

I think one of the best ways to get REO listings is to sign up with as many BPO companies as possible. Sooner or later (hopefully sooner) some companies will recommend you to the Asset Managers and banks. I have listed REO property before, but I think I became lucky by tripping on this niche.

Mon Apr 14 2008, 12:50

wow patirck great idea! Im giving your inof to all the agents in my office!! I wish you contiued success..
leanne

Mon Apr 14 2008, 10:28

Wow this is one of Trulias better threads, thanks Luke & Leanne. To add one last thing to the REO World.

I have written this before, I will add some history. In July of 07 I started to go after REO`s The first one I had a chance of getting, was so Bad. I walked in.... walked out....I thought
" Gee someone forgot to clean up the triple homicide"
I did not want to be there. At all. It was an hour from my home. I was very concerned walking into the house, I only saw half the house.
Great, this is what I am knocking on doors for, and sitting on hold for hours?
I wanted the leads that REO`s bring in, however my marketing plan does not include crack house`s

So I started doing this.....
1. Look up all the listing agents who have active Lender Owned Properties in your area. Only Lender Owned.

2. Start with the homes in the best traffic locations, Then the best condition. You want the best traffic, condition, and utilities on.

3. Tell the listing agents that you will hold their REO`s OPEN, ( as in open house ) at least twice a week. Tell the listing agent all you want is the leads from the open house. Get permission to advertise your open house.

4. Now that you have the home. Buy at least six large signs ( 2 sided, cheap signs ) that say. BANK OWNED OPEN HOUSE YOUR CELL# Actually my signs say Lender Owned

5. Plan to have an Open House, weekdays 2pm to dusk, weekends 10am to dusk.

6. Make a buyers ( doesn`t have listing agents info on it ) Plano copy of every REO property in the area. You should have at least 50 planos. I now put two on a sheet and have been using Black and white in stead of color.

7. Go to your open house, the first room you walk into. Line two of the walls with the planos, ( the listings of all the REO`s in the area) at eye level. Two rows. Use the blue painters tape.

Basically you have created your own REO home store.
Keep asking different agent who have reo`s if you can sit them open. In case your store gets sold. If you sit the same house everyday, you don`t have to take all the listings down.

When your potential clients ask for a copy of a plano on the wall, tell them you will email them a copy, from your wireless laptop that you brought with.
Put them on a drip campaign.

It works for wal mart, it works for me, it will work for you. - Sun Mar 16 2008, 22:22

I take a lot of pictures of reo`s so I can show walkins, and keep them on picasa. I send a link of all the pictures to the listing agents as a thank you. They really appreciate the pic`s for there sign calls.

Here is a picture of today's wall http://picasaweb.google.com/PJMahony/LenderWall

Good luck

Sun Apr 13 2008, 20:21

I started with RealTrans they gave me listing after a couple years of BPOs.

Sun Apr 13 2008, 02:16

Luke - to answer your question about how much I get paid for BPO's: I get paid anywhere from $50 - $150 for the BPO's I complete. The greatest volume comes from the company (Clear Capital) paying $50. They do occasionally pay $85 if it is an interior. The other companies I currently provide BPO's for are Evaluation Solutions (www.evalonline.com), Single Source Property Solutions (www.singlesource.com), Integrated Real Estate and First National Bank. Like Leanne I incoporte the BPO into my driving schedule...I am all over the place with listing and selling anyway I may as well pick up some extra money while I am out there. I also think the research that you do while completing a BPO is invaluable. It keeps you in touch with the current home values and pricing trends. You will see that it can help you to more competitively price your listings because you are better in touch with all segments of your market.

Fri Apr 4 2008, 06:18

Tryhttp:// www.AssignREO.com it's an online REO agent directory that asset managers and lenders use to locate the agents they are going to assign REO listings too. I purchased the premium membership and got a call regarding my coverage area recently. Good luck to all!

Fri Apr 4 2008, 00:48

Thanks Leanne! I wish you continued success in your biz.

Thu Apr 3 2008, 19:35

2nd bpo's are issued out like BPO's, but it helps if you have signed up with a bunch of co's. It may help to say you area ava. for them as well. But honestly I have never really asked to do them, they just started coming. Trust me you don't have to prove yourself to do bpo's, as long as you are breathing you qualify!
good luck!
Leanne

Thu Apr 3 2008, 19:22

Leanne,

Thanks for being so generous with your input, very insightful info.

In order to get seconds (BPO's)....do you request them, or do you have to prove yourself first??

Thanks in advance ; )

Thu Apr 3 2008, 18:53

Hi Sonya, did you get your book yet??

Thu Apr 3 2008, 18:50