Rutherford Realty Blog

BPO Update! Some BPOs are easy, some not so easy.

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 15:49:31 -0500

One of my evaluation customers who sends me work indicated that when I get to 60 total BPOs I will begin to receive BPOs directly to my email, exclusively, with a time limit to respond before it goes to the "free-for-all". I'm on my 13th one now and at this rate I should get to my 60th one maybe by the summer of 2010. Here's my evaluation of BPO's so far:

1. Some were so easy I had completed them within one afternoon in about 3 hrs.

2. Others, and most of them, require a moderate amount of work to get completed before the deadline, 1 to two days.

3. Then there are the rejects which all were late completing and took several days beyond the due date.

The Good: payment by the evaluating company has been excellent, the pay fair but alittle extra pays for realty fees; learning new neighborhoods and subdivisions; generates a few leads to followup to a listing or sale. My ranking is all above 91% to 100%, so far a clean record.

The Bad: time consuming when the valuation is tough to complete or is rejected to needing more comps or explainations.

At least for me, it's nice to have the extra coin, and I talk with a lot of prospective people about BPOs values and I find and seek out a lot of FSBOs.

What are the rest of you doing with medical insurance for realtors?

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 15:23:59 -0500

After spending several months away from AR with medical problems, I'm back at least for now. Do the rest of you guys have medical insurance as a realtor? Are you on your spouses insurance plan? I hope so. I'm with United Health Care which includes both major medical, hospitalization and prescriptions, dental, life and disability. Copay usually of between $20 to $45 per visit to a provider. Without it, I could have just spent $50,000. As it was, I was out only $2,500 for the deductible and minor associate fees that averaged $12 to $20. This is not an advertisement but I was just wondering what other realtors are doing for health care.

A New Year With New Challenges!

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:34:50 -0600

Already the new year is off to a great start. If you're an agent contemplating your next move to quit I recommend you do as I do when it looks like it's time to throw in the towel. Wait 24hours, get some sleep, see a movie, take a trip, go to lunch with someone you can't stand to be around, go to a restaurant you've never been in or a new food group, and even better yet, find someone to help - take $50.00 and go to an orphanage or a nursing home, a cancer center, make a donation. I once visited a assisted living home and was greeted by 10 wheel chaired old people wanting to talk to a living person. When I finally got out of the nursing home, I had forgotten my problems all together, and I set out to start again and continue on.

Couple of items before the Christmas Holidays.

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 08:34:50 -0600

Just a heads up on items I found going through real estate journals. A well respected agency here in the Dallas area was noted in the Dallas Business Journal (pg 3, Dec 5-11, 2008 issue) of another idea from thinking outside the box. They have gone to banks and have solicited their REO departments to handle the new construction residential REO's (foreclosed on builders and/or builder inventories) and have contracted with them to not only list the REO (like normal), but to also add a service of "property management". I had to work an new construction REO priced at $825,000 back in the summer and my first open house the AC didn't work (92 degrees inside the house), but also the lawn was being burned up from lack of water, entire inside was dusty and cob-webbed, light bulbs burned out, smoke alarm beeping, etc. I called the bank REO department and passed on a rather lengthy list of items that needed to be correct and it took them 3 months for them to repair "most" of the items.

So I think I know where this agency above is going with this. Just like in managing an apartment without a tenant, an agent gets an REO, new construction, empty house listing agreement signed and gets a property management agreement signed as well. There will be two incomes on this one: at the sale of the listing and monthly checks for managing the property, calling the yard man, calling the AC man, weekly checks on the property for cleaning for showing purposes, and generally get the property in showing condition to sell. More later on this one....

Write Your Business Plan for a Prosperous Year!

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:51:35 -0600

One of the first tasks that my first agency firm wanted all new agents to do was to write a quick, brief business plan. From my business background, I kicked one out in no time and set about doing the plan. I started by writing a summary, a description of the entire plan, and then I wrote out the marketing plan, my expectations of income, total sales, a resume, financial actuals and projections over 3 years and finished with a wrapup or conclusion. My first year I didn't even come close to meeting my goals or projections in the business plan but I wrote another one my second year and have been ever since. It wasn't until my 3rd year as an agent that I wrote my plan that I actually met several of my goals. What a year! I've been and still write a business plan to this day. I complete it during the span of time between Christmas and New Years. I first update the previous year's business plan and then just make adjustments to marketing and goals, add new info on designations, education and include goals that were accomplished.

I encourage you and others to buy a book on business plans if you have never done one and set about writing it. Maybe this way might seem a bit too much work, but it works well with me. Once it's written down, aim at completing every goal and doing the plan. I think you'll be amazed with the results.

BPO! Update. Problem BPO but stay with it!

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:09:13 -0600

I finally finished my 2nd BPO after 3 rejections and it took a week doing the comps on the subject property in a subdivision with a lot of REO's, foreclosures, and new notices to be foreclosed on. My hat is off to Pro-teck for being patient and communicating with me to arrive at a good solide opinion. And I with them: 3 major emails, 12 comparables, several phone calls. But when finished, I and them believe that Pro-tecks client has a very good idea of the value of their subject property. The economic situation didn't help, and with the large number of foreclosures, using foreclosures for comps made my opinion and Pro-tecks' job much more difficult.

All in all, the opinion is done and so far both Pro-teck and I are happy with the conclusion. Hopefully Pro-teck's client will understand. From the perspective of a broker/agent - remember to just keep at until completed. There's not much monetary reward for a BPO that takes a week, but a job well done is priceless.

BPO! Update. 2 Completed with Pro-Teck

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 19:07:23 -0600

Just finished BPO #2 with Pro-Teck. It was an interior and other than the interior pictures that had to be taken, it was about the same as the exterior. It took more time to complete due to the order needed comps to be as close to the subject property as possible and there was limited comps for the area. This involved more explainations and reasons why some comps were used and others not. Especially using a foreclosure as one of the comps. But it's finished and on to the next one. Approximate time to take the pics: 1.5hrs and two trips, subject was close to my home; approximate time to complete paperwork: 3hrs. I figure I'll get faster as time goes along and I get more familiar with the forms. I've already started streamlining my process of these.

Property Management Is Looking Real Good!!!

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 08:03:51 -0600

Man, I'm thinking that it's probably a good idea to start reading up on property management. I've had two clients in the past week, one who wants to lease out her property I have listed for sale and the other who wants to purchase another distressed property and rent it. Both are considering leasing but want me to management the properties. And, on a recent BPO, an investor wants to continue purchasing property but we're meeting soon to look at the prospect of me managing his current homes and future purchases. I have another past client who is now considering purchasing small apartment complexes (4plexes and 10 units and under) before the purchase prices start going through the roof. Apartments are more cost effective than purchasing a home and leasing it.

The way I figure it, all the people needing a place to live who are coming out of their homes, are going to need housing that is not only with less maintenance than a house but costs less than leasing a house. And apartments do just that. No more mowing the lawn and the costs to maintain a yard, no more general maintenance of appliances, a lower cost to house the family like less property taxes and insurance. I see it happening already. My customers are moving from a 2,000sf, 3bdrm,2b home, $1,600/mo plus the adding all of the other costs, to an apartment, smaller 3bdrm, 2b for a flat $1,400/mo and no more money down the drain.

This economy is changing fast. I'm sitting here this morning looking at joining IREM. What a hoot!!

To Open or Not to Open!!

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:17:44 -0600

I was holding an open house once and an agent popped in, toured real quick and then asked me why I was holding an open house. She seemed impatient, said it was a waste of time, so I quickly responded about the way I see it-a way of meeting people who might be clients, prospecting, a way to learn about the surrounding community, talk the home up and meet-greet everyone and a way to get some work done while alone in the house. She left quickly. I held two more open house for this home before losing the listing without a sale. A few weeks later I met her again at a social function, but she had a big smile on her face, came over and said that she finally held her own open house and sold the home to the third family in the door. To me, you never know whom you'll met or who might buy.

If the client is ok for holding their home open to the public, I'll do it. I consider open houses part of the work required to be an agent if the client wants it.

Property Management? Help AR!

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:54:10 -0600

I have a client that I've listed her property. Because of the slow moving market and the many calls as to whether my client would be interested in leasing her property is beginning to soak in. With 6 people ready to lease her house, she's now thinking of leasing the property, but she asked me to manage it, get a lease signed, pickup the monthly checks, keep the lawn mowed and track the repairs, etc. It's just I've not done property management before. It can't be rocket science but having the extra time to do it might be the question. Thoughts anyone....?

Happy Thanksgiving to all you AR'ers, 2008

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 08:31:59 -0600

Eat plenty of turkey and dressing, watch the Macy's parade, gab with loved ones, watch your favorite sports team get beat, and most important of all, give thanks for everyday and for all your loved ones, our troops, and our country. Don't forget the pumpkin pie with ice cream, chocolate candies, and invite someone over who doesn't have anyone to spend Thanksgiving with. See ya'll soon.

BPO Update! My First BPO, finally after 4 months in waiting.

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:11:08 -0600

I was just sittiing at the computer, watching my e-mails, wondering where everybody's going for Thanksgiving when "Voila!" it popped in. I quickly logged in and there it was, just waiting for someone to accept. I did and captured the BPO (from Pro-Tec). My first one. I quickly ran the stats, grabed the digital camera and headed out. It was an exterior job for $45, due by Friday 11/28. But I had the required pics within one hour, went back and filled out the form and finished the job, uploaded it and finished it. It took a couple of hours of paperwork, didn't have any errors or imcomplets (atleast at this point of submittal), and got a quality rating of 100%. I signed up with 9 BPOs in August and so far, still, the only one who has being sending me BPOs has been Pro-tec. I've received 10 requests for BPOs from them but this was the first captured. Since this is only an exterior, photos only and comparisons, it appears to be fairly simple. The form was equally simple and I should be able to knock it out in about an hour on the next one.

Power Panel Heads Up!

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:26:57 -0600

Yesterday, I attended a "Power Panel", a panel of 6 top producing agents in te Northeast Tarranty County area in Texas, and heard first hand how these agents are dealing with the current slow down, how they got into the business and questions from the attendees as to how they became "top" producers. I took notes and here's a quick breakdown of how they achieved their success and what they are doing in slower times.

Hard work, worked the real estate business just about every day of the week, 12 hrs, as if they actually worked for someone else.
Strong, single minded thought.
All began with a great "mentor".
All made a plan, created a system of contacting prospects (who later became clients) and then stayed with the plan, worked their system consistantly, stayed focus on that plan.
Prospected everyday of the week for at least 1hr in the morning.
Surrounded themselves with other successful agents and people who can support a successful thought process.
When times get slow, they worked harder, read great books, got more required education out of the way, when after a designation, but they kept building.
Turned the TV off.

Ok, there you have it. This is great stuff. And as it turns out, I, myself, have already started down these roads, and it's rewards are coming in.

Update!! Residential & Commercial Open Houses!

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:18:34 -0600

Open Houses are not dead! In two open house for a commercial property our agency has had 5 guests tour the lease space that we have listed. Our client is overjoyed. Previously listed agent never had 1 guest and never even showed his space. We've had 5 in two weeks. One was the next door tenant who will be taking two of the 14 offce spaces available immediately. The others were other commercial agents just checking out the space and taking notes. But still, there is activity, people coming and going and our client sees us talking up the space. We've taken plenty of pics and have put the lease space on our website and two blogs. And we're having fun.

Digging Deep Into The Soul.

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:09:16 -0600

I've had three very good deals fall through in just a week. And as best as I can tell, due to the economic slowdown and changes in the lending practices. No more income stated loans no matter how good the credit and cash. And the others are pulling back to ride out the storm. The leads are drying up, listings are expiring and not relisting and the phone's not ringing as much. These three prospects 6 months ago would have been sales and completed.

So now here's my plan. FORGE AHEAD, WORK SMARTER, HANG ON, and make two extra phone calls each day, go on to the networking meetings, get more MCE credits, read, read, read, and tighten the belt, we may be in for a bumpy ride. I attended an economic meeting this week and also heard from a "Power Panel" of experienced agents and this seems to be their plan as well. One big producer said he started in the industry when it was worse than it is now back in the late 70's (12% rates, etc.). But I also looked around the room and found some agents MIA. But I always remember this. I have a bigger goal than hard times and a strong will and mind. I surround myself with strong real estate people and stay with positive, goal oriented drivers and that continues to keep me moving forward.

Doing out of town deals.

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:14:43 -0600

I'm doing my third "out of town" real estate deal. In Texas, our license allows us to conduct any type of real estate business or transaction within the borders of the state. My office is in Southlake, TX, a mid-city community within the Dallas-Fort Worth MetroPlex and my buyer client is in Monahans, some 6 hours from here. As with the prior two transactions, the entire paper trail, signatures and closings will be done entirely by fax and overnight shipping. Since the property is outside of my association, I have called the other listing agent already and they have indicated that they will not pay a commission. I have already got a buyer's rep agreement and that the buyer, my client, will be paying my 3% commission instead. If the offer is accepted we'll be closing the first week in December. Now, if you read the entire post up to here, did you catch the part of not getting paid. At closing, the listing agent will get paid 3% from his listing client, but I will not get anything. In Texas, unless I have an agreement with my buyer to be paid my 3%, I will not get paid. CYA.

A Commercial Open House?!

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 20:52:53 -0600

Today, I held the second of two open houses on a commercial lease space. In my broker's marketing plan to attract tenants, he put in holding open an office lease space of about 3,638sf, a rather large vacant space. In our marketing plan we proposed to open the vacant space to the public from Noon until 2:00, a time period designed to catch people coming to and from lunch. We marketed the open house to our own e-mail lists of commercial agents and by word of mouth. We will open the space each week on a Wednesday and will have lunch snacks and drinks to offer customers. Our main brokerage sign has a permanently attached open house rider with the time stated. Today I had one customer come by, the next door tenant, and he was glad to see the inside of the space and is now considering demising about 1,300sf of the 3,638sf for his own expanding plan, a plan that the owner was familiar with but didn't have anyone to push the deal through. We enter here representing the landlord and we have begun the negotiaing process to lease this space. Maybe holding an "open house" or holding an "open office" is a good way to attract tenants and prospects for our busniess.

Obama, Roll Up Your Sleeves And Get Ready to Work AND FIX IT!

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:11:20 -0600

I didn't vote for Mr Obama, but the way I see it, it's time now for Obama to get us back to a stronger economy. He has inherited a miss and our newly elected President with the help of both parties need to help "fix it". He appears to be quite capable of fixing it, he said he could fix it. So congratulations to you, Mr Obama, now lets FIX IT.

BPO! Update-5 In 1 Day!!

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 21:34:46 -0600

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT. Five orders in one day from Protek. I had to turn them all down but 5? I'm working the polling stations tomorrow and will not be able to complete these 5 orders in a timely fashion. But on Wednesday, the 5th, I'm going to be watching for the next set of orders. All I did was go into Protek and the orders where still there and the particulars on each order. After looking over each order, I rejected the orders and someone else, I'm sure, picked them up. Later in the week, if I take my first orders, I report the process back to AR.

Speaking of working a poll place. Please vote tomorrow, and then get active in the grassroots of your choice of political party. Our system works, but we have to still be involved in keeping it going. Here in Texas, TREPAC is our voice to the politicians.

Realtor Newsletters! And BPO Update

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 22:57:35 -0600

Is there anyone out there who is doing a newsletter on a consistant basis? I'm considering starting a newsletter, publishing once per month and a max of 4 pages. I read alot that it's a great idea, but I rarely see one. I think I can come up with content without any problems, but send me an example of your work or email me.

BPO Update! No work yet. Signed up for 20 vendors, but not one order. I get orders from Protek, but someone must sit on their e-mail and captures the order before I can blink. I'll keep trying.

Open Houses? For Both Residential & Commercial Properties!

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 21:53:57 -0600

Daniel Kennedy in her real estate books, promotes holding open houses and showing residential property to the public. All I can say is to agree with her, my broker, and past experiences with holding open houses. I have generated many new clients and customers from this weekend endeavor. But recently I held an open house on a listing for 970sf commercial property to try and find a new tenant for my client. I held it open, signs and all, from 11:30am, work it through lunch and closed it at 1:30pm. I had drinks and snacks, brochures, and cards, dressed in a suit and opened the door. Results: I had 10 people show of which one person became a client-a chiropractor looking to relocate in the spring of 2009. A weel later I had an LOI on the space. If you want to kick your real estate into gear, do open houses for a month and see if the results are worth the time and effort.

Effective Commercial Marketing

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 20:58:01 -0500

Marketing in the commercial real estate market is dull! Our office covers a wide range of real estate needs: residential, commercial, land, ranches, resort. Mainly because of our clientel and where we are located. But the commercial market is beginning to slow. I've been looking for more marketing ideas, like thinking outside of the box to market property that's for sale or available space to lease. We've come up with holding a version of residential open houses. During the week, holding open a lease space, putting out the open house signs and banners, having refreshments and finger foods, and brochures to expose the general public of the availability of the space. We open during the middle of the week, from 11:30am to 1:30pm to be available in the noon lunch hours for anyone who might be driving by on their lunch hour. I've had only one commercial open house and had 10 people show to look at a lease space. Most were realtors, one banker, and others. But the lease space stayed on the market for only a week later after the open house before it was leased. I don't know if the open house helped to lease it, but the exposure to the public and the 10 contacts may have been worth it. Any other ideas for marketing commercial property would be welcomed.

Quality Supporting Mortgage Agent!

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:41:05 -0500

Once in a while, when doing your general real estate transaction, the regular ho-hum, non eventual, transaction you hit a glitch in the road. And then it takes every second of your 7 years of experience to get it to close if at all. It's when this happens that a remarkable person will sometimes appear and do the right thing, at the right time and not panic. A panic at closing has happened to me twice. The latest panic has occured in the last two days and over the lending and getting the funding done before the closing. Several agents, a FSBO, and two contracts closing one day apart fueled the panic with only one mortgage between both. And now enters the QSMA (quality supporting mortgage agent). She calms the three clients, had all the supporting paperwork to the title companies in plenty of time, and then she called with the southing words "Ready to fund at closing". It's like a warm blanket. My closing tomorrow will go unblemished and my client is happy that it's getting done on time and funded. I don't care what RESPA says. I'm taking her to lunch on me.

The Realtor in a community-a binding force; the realtor in a transaction-a fiduciary responsibility

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:45:28 -0500

Realtors have a dual role in their industry as the way I see it. In tough and uneasy times, the good realtors continue doing their best, giving their best to help their community ride the storms of financial turmoil without monetary reward. And now is that time for realtors to come to the aid of both their clients and the place where they live by being a binding force and keeping a fiduciary responsibility forefront of their own needs. Be active in the community, be a voice in the politics at the grassroots level, join a committee which benefits the city or neighborhood, produce a neighborhood newsletter and stick to it, note and voice changes in the school system, meet and greet the political leaders, report changes in interest rates and join the local chamber. Realtors can have a dramatic influence as a binding force and as a prudent fiduciary confidante.

Mortgage Company Blues. Who To Trust

Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR (Rutherford Realty, L.L.C.) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:41:34 -0500

With the number of mortgage brokers, mortgage companies soliciting realtors, how does an agent determine which mortgage company to use, which ones have good service skills and, of course, which ones are just bad to deal with. I just recently had a mortgage company associate fail to return phone calls when I needed info on the loan and funding info on a contract prior to the financing addendum expiring. Am I being unrealistic about a prompt call to let me know the status of funding? Or, since I'm only a real estate licensed agent and not a licened mortgage broker, am I just impatient? I even sent e-mails on other correspondence about this contract and have not received any response. I close in less than two weeks, the mortgage says they are funded, but how can I tell if I really do have funding prior to closing?