A finder is an outsource company for a lender. Some of the larger lenders use finders to manage their REO assets. In my experience I have received listings in two ways. Either I'm engaged by the lender or I'm engaged by a finder. The finder is an independent asset management company that the lender outsources properties to. The reason they do this, is that right now some of their asset managers have 400 properties in their portfolios. They simply can't handle the workload so they "farm out" some of the business. If you are an approved agent with one of these finders you stand a good chance of getting listings in your geographical area. Both lenders and their finders try to limit your area to a twenty mile radius from your office. They may make exceptions in rural areas.I have also received listings where I was initially assigned the property from the lender. I performed all the tasks like occupancy status, cash for keys, re keying the property, coordinating cleaning and trash out, lawn maintenance, turning on utilities, BPO, and a few others I can't think of right now. Then after waiting for weeks I get the listing. During this listing period the lender will decide to change asset managers and give this property to a finder to manage. You are now dealing with a new team. It sounds bad but it actually works pretty seamlessly. It can get tricky though if you put the utilities in the lenders name. Getting the billing straightened out can be a nightmare. I spoke with an asset manager today from a finder who told me that some utility companies are getting really hard to deal with. She cited an incident where a utility company had the lenders tax id number on several properties in the same area. The utility company actually charged for services from one property that had a credit and took the credit to pay towards charges on another property. Can you imagine trying to keep the billing straight on your clients closing statement? Anyway, it can be a good strategy to get REO listings by getting your agent profile registered with several of these finders. I will give a quick word of caution to some of you seeking REO business. It is not for the faint of heart. You as the agent for the lender will be asked to check the occupancy status of a property and if occupied offer the occupant a cash for keys deal. This one task can be dangerous and get ugly. You are the one knocking on the door for the first time of an occupied property. You are the one who tells the person at the door that the home they are living in has been foreclosed. You are the one who has to ask them to move out by a certain date, (say three weeks). Are you getting the picture? Everyone wants REO"s, but REO's aren't for everyone.
Rudy Detgen
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