Hey Ya'll

I just got my brokers license here in Texas and ventured off on my own, at my previous company I acquired distressed homes for a company with majority of them being REOs. Just wanted to see if it still worth trying to get into the REO business? Here in San Antonio there is about 6 agents that pretty much have it all locked down and have been doing them for years. 

Ive signed up for 15 or so valuation companies to start doing BPO's, have only got one assignment emailed to me but was quickly taken by another agent. Please give me your thoughts/advice I would really appreciate it.

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  • How does one break into the REO business?  The agents here (Chico, CA ) won't tell the other agents. I have only listed and sold 1 back in 2010 which was a bpo from Goodman Dean.

    • Join the NRBA

    • If you listed a REO from a Goodman Dean BPO, I consider that a miracle.

  • I think it is a hard business to get into. BPOs are getting cheaper requiring greater research. Once upon a time we were doing about 50 per month the rate of pay was fair then came the auto-fill people and the AM companies figured they could reduce the price which launched numerous BPO mills and the price dropped even lower. It takes a minimum of 2 hours from start to finish to complete one ( some drive buy's are paying as little as $40.00 interior orders typically pay as little as $65.00). Couple that with the cost of your membership in a MLS (you need that to do the research) and the wear & tear on your auto not to mention fuel ( they say fuel will rise to $3-$4 a gallon again since OPEC reduced its output). So, if you think BPO's will pay the way you will be working on a low margin.  I think the answer is to solicit from the AM companies that provide listings, bite the bullet and do their cheap BPO orders and try to develop a relationship. Maybe then they will allow you to list their properties but be ready to pay referral fees for their services to you.

    • Edward, you hit the nail on the head. I was contacted by one of those BPO mill companies. They want to pay 30 for drive-by and 45 for interior. I use to get at least 50 BPO a week, now I am lucky to get 2. These auto-fill companies are not legit because they are capturing information through a software and the banks require us to have a background check to have the same information. If the banks knew this was going on, I wander if they would continue to take the risk of their customers private information being captured by a computer. We go into these customer's homes, take pictures and load them to the BPO. The system is nolonger secure once you allow a auto capture company to attach to your server.  Isn't that the reason for the Captcha, to make sure it is a person accepting the orders and not a computer, robot? It a security risk so I do not see it lasting. They will have to find a way to either make it a broker business only or make sure agents are sent orders directly to their email instead of the email blast. 

      • Auto fill is perfectly legit. Many agents know how to develop their own programs. Others buy the service. BPO companies don't have any restrictions on auto fill. Some do have restrictions on auto capture and will stop sending you orders. Others say they will but don't. 

    • Thank you for the reply Edward

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