There have been a lot of good discussions about foreclosures.   One topic I have not seen discussed are foreclosures and the elderly.  I know a couple, he is in his 70s, she is in her late 60s.  They purchased their house 4 years ago.  Now it is worth about half of what they paid for it.  They have some health issues.  Their son has asked them to move in with him so that he can take care of them.  The only thing stopping them is their home.

Sticking it out until the price rises is not an option.  Being long distance landlords does not make any sense.  Keeping the house vacant also does not make any sense.  A short sale is a maybe. 

They do not like the idea of foreclosure but feel that they have no choice.  The "consequences" of foreclosure mean nothing to them.  They do not plan on ever buying another house.  They do not care about their credit rating.   

Any ideas?

I was assigned an interior BPO today.  The contact (and future listing agent) is a company about 400 miles away.  I called and they gave me the lock box code.  I drove to the house and the locks have been changed but there is no lock box.  I called the agent and left voice mail.  About 30 minutes later I called again and spoke to a real live person who took a message.  It is been over 3 hours and no one has returned my call. 

I have dealt with this company before.  I was suppose to do an interior on a property in a gated community.  I asked for the gate code.  I was told to just wait for someone else to go in and follow them.  I was told that the lockbox combination was A-B-C.  The lockbox needed 4 numbers.

Another time, I was doing a bpo after the property was listed.  The house has a 1000 sq ft ranch house.  The picture in the mls was of a 2 story home.

None of these are problems if you are not 400 miles away.  You drive over and take care of it.  Why would a bank use a company that can NOT just drive over a take care of problems?

I am a morning person.  By 9 am I have gotten done over half of what I will accomplish in the day.  That is when I am most efficient.  I build my day around the fact that I am a morning person.  I do the hardest things in the morning.  I do the easiest things in the afternoon.  If you plan your day around your strengths you can get more done in a day. 

If you fall asleep after lunch, do not schedule an important meeting after lunch.  If you are not human until you have had 3 cups of coffee, do not schedule important stuff for the mornings.  Study yourself, figure out when you are most productive and just do it.

I just received 3 BPOs on the same street, 9130, 9175 and 9315. This is an established neighborhood, not a new home development. It definitely cuts down on the driving time. Oh, the things we do to entertain our self while we do BPOs. Can anybody out there beat my record?

I finished a BPO today.  It is for a rural area near here.  It is within the city limits but is 50 miles away from where I live.  In the area, there are 20 properties currently listed for sale.  There has been 1 sale in 2009.  There was 1 sale in 2008.  There were 5 sales in 2007.  My comps were 15 miles away and more than 6 months old.  I explained everything in the comments and expect it to pass quality control.

The problem is the computer rates you.  The computer cannot read the comments, it reads numbers.  I exceeded the limits.  I will get a low rating on this BPO.  In my area, there are 9-10 agents working for this company.  We all do good jobs and have good ratings.  By accepting this BPO, I lowered my rating.  I will get fewer BPOs in the future from this company.  Should I have accepted this BPO?

I was recently assigned an interior BPO.  I called the homeowner to make an appointment.  She told me it was a loan modification.  We agreed to meet at 4:30.  About 3:00 I received a phone call from her lender.  She was not comfortable having someone come into her house and take pictures.  The appointment was canceled.  I emailed the story and said that access was denied.

Somewhere, there is an assistant with 5,000 loan modifications on his desk.  His job is to make sure that each package is complete.  If it is, he forwards it to his boss, who reviews it.  For this one, he will see the missing BPO.  He will send an email asking "What is the status of the BPO?" and put the package at the bottom of the stack.  Sometime next week or when someone asks about it, it will work its way back to the top of the stack.  He will note the missing BPO and send another email.

Different BPO companies use different forms with different fields on them. Sometimes 1 company has multiple forms. Did you ever notice that they always give you the wrong form for the property? One company has a form with questions about a guest house. I have always answered no guest house. I finally get a BPO with a guest house. Guess what, they used a different form that did not ask about a guest house. You know a lot about a property or the area that it is in. You could write a book about it. You get the form that allows 128 positions for comments.

Different BPO companies use different forms with different fields on them.  Sometimes 1 company has multiple forms.  Did you ever notice that they always give you the wrong form for the property?  One company has a form with questions about a guest house.  I have always answered no guest house.  I finally get a BPO with a guest house.  Guess what, they used a different form that did not ask about a guest house.  You know a lot about a property or the area that it is in.  You could write a book about it.  You get the form that allows 128 positions for comments.

I have 6 bpos due today. I will get them in on time. I have 4 bpos due tomorrow. I will get them in on time. I have never been late without contacting the company and explaining the problem. Why then do I get 5-10 phone calls a day asking me if my BPOs will be in on time? I really do not need more distractions in my day.

I got another of my favorite email ads today.  It was for something.  It sounded interesting.  But they ended the ad with "It only costs $500.  If you get just 1 sale from this product, it will pay for itself many times over."  To me that is a big sign not to buy whatever they are selling.  When I was a new agent, I purchased a few of these.  It has been many years.  I am still waiting for my 1 sale.