Is There an REO God?

HI Tamara~ Too bad you couldn't reach the listing agent, but DON"T let that stop you from turning in your buyer's offer!  It could keep the from getting the house!  I would have called right then and there from my cell and still wrote the offer according to the listings instructions.  Relying on reaching a agent first is not important in the scheme of things.  Hurry up and write it and turn it in!

We have a few agents here that are very similar - but send them a text and they respond pretty quickly... I dont mind texting - probably would rather not talk to them anyway just need the questions answered :) Try texting them...

[please email me at creepyagent@whoknows.com]

ROFL

Texting works for me too, but then again I always answer my phone or call right back. To me that is simply part of our job.

The REO agents of today are like the 'boom agents' of 2005. They better learn how to behave now because eventually the market will level out and they will have acquired no marketable skills nor valuable associates--but burned a lot of bridges.

Hi Tamara,

There are loads of poor customer service driven agents out there . . . just remeber you are one of the good ones and that you can make a big difference in this troubled marketplace . . . one client at a time.

Good luck and keep the faith!

Paul

Tamara ~ I do believe you can vent, cuss, or just get plain angry here on ActiveRain so no apologies necessary...especially when it comes to REO agents! We have two in our area that will do exactly the same thing...."send and email" or "fax all offers between 9 to 5" , "just leave a message and I will call if your offer is accepted"...

It is crazy. I have heard of agents who refuse to show properties that are listed by these agents! It is to much hassle and just plain rude on the part of the REO agent!

Well, I was going to add my two cents to the vent, but it's been covered!!  It's pretty bad here in Phoenix.  I want to give people the benefit of the doubt and sometimes it's just plain hard to do.  I did a little post with two examples of what I've come across lately.  I agree with some who have commented and said these agents need to share the listings with others, if they can't handle them.  And some agents are just plain rude, rude, rude!  They are getting multiple offers right now, but there will be a day when things are different and I'm thinking memories will be intact. 

"I agree with some who have commented and said these agents need to share the listings with others, if they can't handle them." 

I want to add that if you can't handle the calls or have to be nasty and rude, you have too many listings. 

And if you would show realistic information about the listing in the MLS, that would go a long way toward keeping the call volume down. 

With the multiple offer situation we have here and agent telling us they will not get back to us if our offer is not accepted because they have too many...  How do you explain this to a client?  I try to be diplomatic, but it's hard.   Not every buyer is a big money investor. 

OK, I'll really stop.  :)

I have a buyer that is trying to purchase a home listed by FNMA in Maricopa for 119k.  She has offered twice now: 137k.  When the first offer was not accepted, it went active again days later (this time for $2,000 less than the previous listing).  We are left scratching our heads about what happened.  This is incredibly hard on my buyer (who is not an investor, just a Mom who is trying to re-locate her family from out of state).  And from what I am hearing here on AR, even if her offer is accepted, since FNMA owns the property, she is in for even more brain damage getting the contract finalized if the offer is accepted.  My client did call the listing agent at FNMA and asked for an explanation for this treatment  before she made the second offer.  I am embarassed to say what the agent on FNMA's side told her - lots of double talk and could not wait to get her off the phone.  Her Realtor is so fustrated that he is staying under the radar screen.  Not very flattering for our industry.   It's disapointing that FannieMae is hiring agents that give them this kind of Public relations mess.  By the way, she is well qualified and approved for 80% conventional financing no contingencies.  I agree wth Sandy/Keller Williams, this must be a #2 agent. 

The guys who have this much reo business aren't running a service based business but instead a factory of homes for sale.  I guess that works for the banks, my sellers would fire me if I didn't return buyer agent calls!

I work tampa.   Last three properties i called to schedule showings at for the same family got returned from 1. in Orlando, 2. North Carolina 3. New Jersey

i am sorry but how does somebody a couple of hours away, much less a couple of states away, know about a piece of real estate in my back yard

My favorite is when the listing agent states "All I do is list the property, you (selling agent) have to do everything else".  A little assistance would be helpful since they do represent the the seller!  I believe if you have a listing you service that listing.

I have also seen many times where the listing agent just comes and picks up their check after closing.  What am I doing wrong? It takes alot of effort to get a closing to the table these days! 

Finding a customer serviced oriented REO agent is a rare find indeed.  Not sure how this disconnect happens but it's way to common.

Tamara - I have a post that's been in my head for far too long.  I got to get it out soon.  It's about REO/short sales.  I had an offer in hand on a short sale.  Took me three days to deliver it.  Why?  The agent wouldn't return my phone calls, his voicemail was usually full, and there was no email or fax number in his MLS profile.  I googled him.  Nothing.  I finally called his broker.  Guess what, his broker is him.  I finally did get someone to answer my call to the "broker's office."  I think the office was in his kitchen, because when the obviously frustrated woman answered the phone I could food cooking the background (I'm pretty deaf but I know the sound of something sizzling in a frying pan) and what sounded like 50 kids were having a grand old time.  A baby was crying near the phone as well, so I can only guess that said baby was being held by mom as she answered the phone.  I finally did get an email back that was a little terse and had a bit of "leave me alone" vibe to it.  It contained a fax number at least.  That was three months ago and I have never again spoken to that agent.  By email or telephone.  I have tried, but just can't get him to respond.  Ridiculous.

I'd call this a "George Carlin" post. For those of us old enough (God,that just hurts to say) to remember George Carlin's comedy, he would make an observation that you thought only you knew about. And come to find out, most all of us share the same thing. There's so much wrong with the distressed market and this is a major factor. Personally, I have short sale listings, and obviously have buyers trying to purchase them. Unresponsive, arrogant, and ill-informed are all adjectives that describe a lot of these listing agents. And layering yourself with four or five assistants( median age: 24 yrs old), doesn't help in getting things done. Like Matt above, if I don't get some kind of communication, I go to the broker. If that agent runs a "mill", I filter out his name from any MLS searches. I do ask my buyers first. By now, most of them have heard the horror stories, and are happy to avoid those agents. I could go on and on here, but I won't.

Now let me play devil's advocate for a minute. I do have several short sales. And while I do my best to answer all agent calls personally(no assistants named Cheyenne, Dakota or Blocker here..and yes, those are real names I've heard), I could literally spend every moment answering the exact same questions over and over. Which leaves no time to actually work the file/offers. I use the agent comment section of the MLS to answer the most common questions.."available until otherwise indicated", "multiple offers in", "holding submitted offers per asset manager" and so on. Also, I do ask that agents email or text general questions. I can answer them almost immediately, a lot of times while speaking to another agent. The key here is for a listing agent to actually respond. And in kind for a selling agent to read those comments. Often, an agent won't even identify themselves on a voice mail as an agent, and then want to lobby their offer .

So there's both sides of a tarnished coin. The one bit of solice in all of this is that this market has another year or so left in it. Then these "mill" agents can go back to selling cars, vitamins or time shares. And Cheyenne,Dakota and Blocker can go back to jr. college and get that cosmotoogy degree that's been eluding them for so long.

great post Tamara! Yes I have had a similar situation.  Sometimes I really could say a bad word about these answering machines, and their owner. i agree, there are times when we really need to talk to the agent, and cannot get them. I don't know the answer.  They need to at least be professional, and be accessible to another agent. thanks for the blog!

Tamara;  I totally agree with you and obviously you've hit a nerve as evidenced by the number of responses.  I am a RE Rookie and if an agent is too busy to handle their business it would make common and PROFESSIONAL sense to spread the wealth and avoid negative relationships or burned bridges.

Not only is it frustrating when you want to make an offer.  How about when you are organizing showing appointments and want to doublecheck availability.  ACTIVE is NOT always Active anymore.   I email most listing agents to request "if offers are in and/or are they in final stages of negotiations" prior to showing the home and getting my client's hopes up.  About half of the inquiries get an answer. 

Having been an escrow officer in my previous life - I can say that a few of these Creepy Agents (love that description) - behaved with the same lack of courtesy on other issues.  The good ones (and there is One in particular here in Sacramento- who has a very high volume of REO's) ALWAYS gets back to you and  even pick up the phone.  It is appreciated.

For now.... I agree with some of the previous posts that the best we can do is prepare our client for that type of behavior.  

Thank you for sharing 

Tamara, What you described is the standard in my area. The only exception is if the listing agent only has one or two listings. Shame on the banks for assigning hundreds of listings to one agent and thinking they are being well served.  The climate of the market we are in is bringing out the best in us - isn't it? (lol) I am sorry that happened to you.

I mean no disrespect but a lot of the REO agents do behave like they are Gods, heck even God would answer your prayer !! You can submit a million offers to them but the Lord forbid if they will even acknowledge you sent in an offer.. talking to them before writing- pipe dream !