A BPO or a DPETGOOTCO?

Wanda - If done properly, a BPO done by a Realtor should be an accurate assesment of value. The problem, as you say, is that the banks don't pay for that accurancy and this is what you get.

I agree and disagree....there is a place for BPO's but lets face it...from an address how do i know when i am doing a drive by BPO whether or not it has upgrades inside....once in a while I could find it previously listed on MLS but not always!   

I dont' do them any more...combination of State cracking down and making it so only Brokers/Assoc Brokers can do them with the low fees they are paying!   just wasn't worth it to me!

I agree, Wanda. The drive by BPO's are worthless and infect the movement of homes under stress. But, do the banks care? Unlikely. They get insurance money for foreclosures, not for short sales.

I like to think of it as "Hey, if I give a high enough value on this, it will be foreclosed on and I can get the listing and make $50 today" option.

Folks that do BPO's for $25 are nuts. You might want to tale a look at this :

Trust, Expert Advice, and Realtor Responsibility

by Bret B White

University of Arizona - James E. Rogers College of Law

Real Estate Law Journal, Forthcoming
Arizona Legal Studies Discussion Paper No. 11-10

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1783050### 

We're in the gun sights, just think about what has happened to mortgage brokers.

Love your post and I have to agree on most BPOs that are done! You get what you pay for.

Interesting topic Wanda....our bank owned properties are handled differently here. They select they agent they are going to list with and ask us for our market value based on a thorough walk through with no separate pay for doing that. They also then get at least two other professional appraisals done and they take the value from all three opinions.

Hi Wanda~ I've done several BPOs.  The challenge is that most of them are drive-bys and not interiors.  There is only so much you can see from the outside.  The other challenge is that many agents that do BPOs are from out of the area, so they don't know the market.

I think a BPO or an appraisal, either one can be done well or poorly. They ALL are guesstimates. An appraisal I would lean toward being more accurate with the adjustments to the + and - side.

Wanda'

I think Todd hit the whole thing right on the head.

Wanda, the issue with BPO's is the variation depending on the perspective of the particular brokers.  Then there is the issue between Market Value, an average... and market price, the value of a particular house to a particular buyer at a particular time...

The problems with BPO's is not only that they pay so little but they want you to put everything into there Square Hole system that does not work right when I am looking at Round Circles.