Foreclosure Bus Tours - How do they work?

I've recently been obsessed with the idea of foreclosure bus tours.  I've been concentrating my business on short sales lately - and doing a foreclosure bus tour seems like a great way to get connected with buyers.  There are several going on in my area and I wanted to know how to get involved.  Here's what I've learned:

1. Rent a Bus - rental rates for a bus that holds around 50 people will range from about $500 - $900.  You can rent the bus for 5 hours or an entire day.  Sometimes a per mile fee is also added on.
2. Charge Participants - Foreclosure Bus Tours Operators are charging participants anywhere from $25.00 a person to $100.00 a person.  Even more for higher end property foreclosure tours.   
3. Feed them - Breakfast and/or lunch is usually provided for participants.
4. Teaming Up - Agents are teaming up with Attorneys, Inspectors, Appraisers and title companies to spread the cost around or get the tour sponsored completely. 
5. Pre-Requirements - Some agents are requiring that participants be pre-approved and sign a buyers agreement before taking the tour.  Some are not. 
6. Choose Homes - most agents I know that have REO or Pre-Foreclosure properties want to know how they get their homes on the tour!  If you don't have your own REO or Pre-Foreclosure properties, most agents would be thrilled to have a bus load of people pull up in front of their listings!  

FORECLOSURE BUS TOUR SERVICES:

• ForeclosureBusTours.com 

HIRE YOUR OWN FORECLOSURE BUS:

• BusRates.com
• USABusCharter.com
• BusBank.com
• USCoachways.com

If one of these links don't work for you, look for local limosiousine service.  Larger limo companies will usually have the small mini buses available for rental.  Or you could go for the strech Hummer!

ACTIVE RAINERS BLOGGING ABOUT FORECLOSURE BUS TOURS:

• Lori Mode & The Mode & Durham Team
• Ed Cassady, Arizona
• Debbie Salek, Denver Colorado
• Kent Simpson, Tucson AZ
• Team Newington, Wilton CA

AGENT WEBSITES - FORECLOSURE BUS TOURS:

• ColumbusBusTours.com - Ohio Agents Donna Carstens and Michelle Foster with Coldwell Banker King Thompson.
• VegasRepoBus.com - James Wedewer with O48 Realty and his lending partner Anand Goundar of evofi ONE Mortgage in Las Vegas.
• RepoHomeTourChicago.com - sponsored by Re/Max of Barrington, Illinois
• DenverForeclosureBusTours.com - Debbie Salek, RE/MAX Professionals, Inc. and Dana Dziagwa, W.R. Starkey Mortgage in Denver, Colorado.
• SacramentoREO

Overall, the foreclosure bus tour seems like a way to get buyers exicted and involved in the process.  Jerry Murphy of Anthem, Arizona raises a good point.  Are foreclosure bus tours actually a good idea for buyers?  Everyone looking at the same property - maybe more than one person bidding on the same house?  Sure - every agents dream.  Has this happened to anyone?   

Questions I have for agents doing bus tours:

• What about liability during the tour?  Do you need extra insurace?
• Do you tour with more than one agent?  If so - how do you handle leads?
• Are you requiring buyers agreements?

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All the resource related links in this post are available at the Blue60.com Directory of Resources for Real Estate Professionals.  Blue60.com is a human edited diretory of links for real estate agents, loan officers & appraisers.  If you're looking for anything related to the business of Real Estate - you'll find it at Blue60.com