You Want Me to do a BPO on a House That is Listed? Say What????

BPO's in Maine not hard and limiting language for the scope, not to be used for financing, etc.

Did alot of BPO's at one then they stoped paying, leaving me holding the bag. Legal here though to do them.

I stopped doing BPO's last year. I could smell the potential liability down the road. Especially the "drive-by" BPO product. "Assume the interior is in the same or better condition as the exterior".

On a distressed property? What sort of herbs are they smoking?

I like that you wrote this piece about BPOs on listed property.  And, I like Richard Iarossi's comment as well.  The laws regarding them, apparently differ from state to state.  Hence, Gary's #1 comment about California.  I wish California was like your state, and Richard's Maryland.

Tom, we learn something new here on ActiveRain - almost daily! This is something I thought is 'okay' to do - does not seem so, btw.

Tom - Many short sales have BPOs and not appraisals done for valuations purposes.

(1) "Appraisal" shall mean an analysis, opinion, or conclusion relating to the nature, quality, value, or utility of specified interests in, or aspects of, identified real estate as of a specific date. An appraisal may be classified by subject matter into either a valuation or an analysis. A valuation is an estimate of the value of real estate or real property. An analysis is a study of real estate or real property other than estimating value. A competitive market analysis is not an appraisal. So I am confussed, i read alot of the statues in your link and found the above, the last sentence above...? I dont understand why a lender couldnt order a bpo or cma? If it were my lent money I would want to know the value buyer and seller agreed to is legit! Based on the fraud I see in deals these days regarding short sales it would seem like a good idea.

Tom- Wow do companies actually ask that.. Regardless of what it is called.. stay away...

I don't understand the need for a bpo unless there are still negotiations ongoing 

Forget all the rules about doing a BPO-my question is why would someone want you to waste your time if the home is under contract?

We used to do BPOs, but never ran into this problem.  Sounds like it's not worth the $40 at all in this case!                                                         

All of my short sale listings have BPOs done by agents after the property is already pending. Nature of the biz with short sales. I'll have to read up on the Florida law related to this. Personally I don't do BPOs.

Tom, an example where it pays to know the law for doing BPO's in your state. I quit doing BPO's a long time ago.

That's interesting. I was stuck on the "under contract" part - didn't understand why you would need a BPO on a property under contract. When I have done them, it was generally for a relo company - a pre-listing agent bake-off. I did have a short sale listing when I had a "drive-by" BPO. The agent did come in the house (45 minutes after the appointed time because she couldn't find the 300 unit condominium complex) and whisked through the home with a toddler on her hip and a camera in one hand, snapping one picture of every room - in and out in under 5 minutes. I'm sure it was a detailed BPO.

In PA BPOs are illegal but CMA's are not.  We have a form we provide to people requesting a BPO to let them know that we will be performing a CMA ad it is not in accordance with USPAP and is NOT an appraisal.  Thye have to sign off on that prior to actually performing the BPO.  

I'll only do BPO/CMA's if they pay enough to make it worth my while.  

This is very common in Florida, so I guess Deleware is a bit different.  But I can't see what the big deal is anyway.  Banks continuously do it for valuation purposes every so many months.