Requests for BPO's on the rise, an indicator in my local Market.

Hi everyone,

In the last two weeks or so the amount of BPO requests I receive have noticeably increased. I don't do that many normally, only a couple per month. Lately I'm getting requests for three a week on average. This represents about a six-fold increase. I can only attribute this to borrowers requesting more loan modifications, Short Sales,  and Deeds in Lieu. Where I live in Moorpark, California there have been over 60 NOD's recorded in a 90 day period, and I'm in a relatively small community of about 30,000. That is one NOD recorded every 36 hours! So where are all the REO's?

According to my asset management companies many of the lenders we service have put self imposed moratoriums, (not to mention the State moratorium) on their REO's. We've all heard the speculation as to why. Mostly it is believed that the lenders didn't want to saturate the market with any more REO's than we had a few months back. Things seem to have changed dramatically as a result. We currently only have around 12 active REO listings and another 14 under contract.

I did a recent BPO on a condominium that appeared vacant. Title showed that it was already an REO and that the Trustee's sale occurred back in May! This confirms what we've all seen and heard about the lenders holding back on their inventory. This condo has been sitting off market for over 2 months now.

I can totally understand the original strategy about holding some properties back, but I must say that the timing has never been better than now to start getting these lower priced properties on the market.

We've all been told that the "floodgates" are going to open soon. That would be nice. In the mean time all we can do is try and stay prepared for when this market opens back up.

I'm still working my REO farm by sending my resume to lenders and asset managers that I have worked with in the past. I've filled in several Master Listing Agreements as a result.

I'd really like to hear from some of you other REO agents about activity in your local markets. Around here, it feels like there is a lot of pressure building and it will only be a matter of time before we are seeing more REO's.

Meanwhile I'll leave you all one more thought...........

As Real Estate Agents we are at the top of the Food Chain in this business. We talk to the clients. We put the deals together. We see that our escrows close. Without us, nobody in this business eats! Not the finance people, not the escrow people, not the lawyers, not the title people, and not our brokers. Many people don't realize how important Realtors are. Not only to our own industry but to the Nations economy in general. Economic recovery depends on the housing market gaining stability. Who would have known?

Keep your chins up and your heads held high, we are BADASS REO AGENTS! That's right, We Bad, We Bad!

Rudy