Listing REO / Bank Owned properties

As a broker who manages a very successful REO agent with 12 years experience I certainly ditto your advise.  Stupid to throw money away to a company who can't guarantee you a listing.  And I find it amusing that so many agents are trying to jump on the wave of REO agent success with no experience.

Sally, I couldn't disagree more with this statement you made: "Then, sit patiently (sometimes for months) and wait for someone to notice your hard work and competence and call on you for a listing assignment.

This attitude is why so many agents fail in the REO business. I guarantee if the agent in the office next to you is prospecting Asset Managers daily, sending emails, attempting to build relationships, and asking for assignments...they will get a listing before you if you are just sitting there waiting.

So many agents treat REO like its such a unique industry with different rules than the rest of the working world, when in reality it's just like every other industry when it comes to getting hired. You have to stick out above the competition and get noticed. Doing BPOs and just waiting is what most other agents are doing. That's just like sending in your resume in any other industry and just waiting to be called while it sits in a stack with hundreds of other applicants.

You have to follow up, be persistant and show them how hungry you are to work for them. Show them your value and how you can be an asset to their company. Asset Managers get bonuses on closed deals so they want to work with the agents they feel are going to close the most deals for them in the least amount of time. They want educated, organized, and hard working agents willing to do all assignments and do them well.

You may be one of those agents, but if you don't let them know that and let them know often, they have no way of knowing. By doing BPOs and waiting you're just another BPO agent to them and those are a dime a dozen anymore.

Sally you said a few things I want to respond to:

But, after all, you ARE one of those companies who solicits a registration fee from agents with a promise of a fast track to the REO listings.

Not true at all. We do not solicit any type of registration fee from agents and we make no promise of anything. We simply provide/sell contact information. We leave all of the work up to the agents to make that info work for them. Some use it very successfully and some do not. We are not one of these directory sites that taskes your money so you can post your name in the hopes of an AM coming to find you there.

Also, most of the larger Asset Management Companies and in-house REO Departments of lenders have taken the task of assigning listings away from the asset managers so that they are not distracted by solicitations from agents. Listings are assigned by pre-marketers.

You are correct here and that is the reason why our database of contacts actually contains many more pre marketers than asset managers.

The way to show your committment to the REO industry is to take the required training, show a short marketing period from list to contract date, provide accurate and professional property valuations, show a sales price close to your original BPO value. Remain easily accessible, communicate clearly and concisely.

I agree with everything you say here. But how do you think an AM or Pre Marketer will know any of this about you if you don't tell them?

In  short, you EARN the REO listings by years of accountability and hard work. You cannot BUY your way into the REO industry by paying a registration fee to have your name placed on a list. It just isn't good enough.

I don't advocate buying your way into anything. But I also don't agree with sitting and waiting. Actually that is exactly what the companies you mention propose as well. Pay us $300, put your name on our list or in our directory and you will get calls for listings. That is garbage. But besides paying the fee, you are basically advocating the same approach. Sit and wait to be picked among hundreds or thousands of agents all waiting for the same thing.

There is too much competition out there for that approach. It worked years ago, but things have changed. If you just sit and wait you will get passed up by the agents that are more hungry, more aggressive and more persistent. Obtaining listings is all about the relationships you build and foster with your Asset Managers and Pre Marketers. Anyone telling you different is not being honest.

Thanks for the information Sally.  I have been performing BPO's for about 2 years now and still have yet to be assigned a single REO.  I also want to be able to list and sell REO's but refuse to pay anyone an upfront fee.  I have been told by several people that it does not work.

Sally,

Thanks for this information.  I was considering signing up with one of those companies, and you have saved me some time and I am sure lots of headaches and frustration.  Plus  $$$$

Tere

Thank you, thank you again for this post.   I've heard from many of my agent friends that the best way to get the listings it to do good quality BPO's vs. paying money for services where you don't get anything.  This just reaffirms what I've already been told.

Sally,   I sent you an email.  Did you get it?  Just checking.     Tere

When I first started in REO I did pay to sign up with certain companies and it did pay off for me. However, I feel tha at this stage it would be very difficult to break in. The number of agents registered at most asset management comanies has surpassed the supply of REO inventory at most companies. There is a large waiting list at these comapanies and many are turning agents away. It is so hard to predict what the need will be for agents in any given market once inventory levels increase. I really think you have to look at these comanies on a one by one basis. Great post. Thanks for sharing.

Sally, I agree with you completely.  More and more we get bombarded with emails from so called "reo industry experts" who want our money in return for empty promises. 

Economy is down and many agents are without work, but please don’t be so hungry as to completely lose any respect for yourself and for our profession and beg for a listing from these vultures that make money on.

The situation is getting critical to the point of NAR should get involved and stop all these thieves from getting money of unsuspecting naïve inexperienced agents.