Donna, Most are doing this, do not let them run over you, set your standards and stick to it... I don't do BPO any more, due to the pay and the demands them keep increasing....Good luck!
A caption of an email i just got from Single Source:
"In an effort to balance increasing volume and pricing, please consider completing Exterior BPOs for a fee less than $40 and Interior BPOs for a fee less than $60"
So what they are saying is: We want you to work very hard but take less money. Just B/C we get more orders does not mean we make more money. More travel time, more gas and more doing these reports and not selling real estate!
The way I see it, $40 is barely minimum wage. When you factor in the cost of being in business, (E&O, licensing, CE, MLS, etc), plus the cost of gas, which obviously multiplies if you are in a rural area, plus the actual time spent driving and doing the form, it all adds up. Then from that pay minus any fees owed to a broker and minus the hefty taxes that self-employed/independent contractors get hit with at tax time, and $40 quickly becomes $20 and at 2 hours per average BPO including the driving, that is $10 an hour. Sorry but I am worth more than an unskilled worker. $40 may just be worth it if you live in a big city and are a couple of blocks from the property in question, but here in middle Georgia, the average round trip for me, based on the orders paid so far this year is between 35-40 miles. That is 2-3 gallons of gas on every trip, at about $3.60 at the moment. About 30 minutes driving and another 1-1.5 hour form work. The bare minimum fee at $20/hour is about $60 with all costs considered. Lately I have been asking for $70-$100 for anything more than a 20 mile round trip, and getting it. Instead of rushing to take every order, negotiation of the fee should always be done, so as to make sure that agents generally are being paid a fair market price for their work. These greedy businesses would literally have us work for peanuts if they thought we would take it.
Also, I have a suspicion that BPOs are being used everywhere possible, (where it is legal to do so), in place of a full appraisal, which would cost significantly more. A BPO provides a lot of the same information that an appraisal has, without having to pay the customary rates of an appraiser. So these greedy companies and clients are already getting a bargain by cheaping out and getting a BPO instead of a formal appraisal. The least they can do is negotiate with agents a fair fee and then actually pay the money they owe.
Yes, the payments are going down and features/requirements are being added. More companies are requiring individual feature comparison adjustments and repair costs (not just bottom-line differences adjustments). More work, more time spent, less reward. But so many agents nowadays just pawn the BPO off on a family member to take the pictures, run the comps and do the report dishonestly, just to get volume to make up the difference... I do all my own work so I'm limited in how many I can do at a time. And though I'm told that I do good work, my BPO offers have all but disappeared in the last few months. More competition from newer agents who will do a BPO for $30 and not know the difference.
This is the kind of rpt many of us got talked into doing for low, low rates. While it calls itself an inspection rpt. They do not hesitate to ask for price opinion, as is etc....
The sign is to show the property address after 6 shots. I forget the compensation. If I got paid it feels like not getting paid.
I noticed this trend of lower base fees for BPOs at the beginning of 2014. Many of the companies seem to have a base fee of $40. I get sent offers all of the time to do work for $40 but I always reject and state my desired fee. This arrangement has worked well for me, allowing me to get double or more for some locations. I am just south of Metro Atlanta but north of Macon. There is a good mixture of larger towns, small towns and rural areas in my region, and I have developed an idea of the most I can typically ask for a BPO, depending on the town or area in question. The larger towns up north tend to have more agents doing BPOs than the rural areas, so I can't ask as much of a fee, but on the plus side, it is always easier to find comps in those areas. The trick is to get not so little as to be working for nothing, but not so high that you price yourself out of regular work. I have been pretty lucky because it seems there are few other agents in my area who do BPOs at all, which has allowed me to increase my order volume and increase my fees at the same time.
The key to making good money with BPOs is to find the good companies that pay consistently, build a good working relationship with them and/or your rep, and get a feel for the maximum you can ask for in a particular area. I always try to stack multiple orders in the same direction too, so I can get them all in one go. Occasionally I might reject one which is out of the way unless the fee is very good. Coming on forums like this is also helpful because it allows us to talk among ourselves and warn about the deadbeat companies that won't pay up.
I enjoy my job doing BPOs, it allows me to work from home, be my own boss, and drive to places I haven't been before, while being able to run other errands when necessary.
I just laugh and sent them back. Inside valuation has been sending me BPO requests for 32.00 I have asked them to stop sending them as my base fee is 65.00 for BPO's that are clos be and it goes up from there. I know the value of my work and I will not work for peanuts.
I still get occasional emails from Green River Capital (GRC) of available BPOs and Property Inspections. Yesterday I was emailed that a list of Rental Inspections "Property Inspections" were available. You still have to drive out to the property, take full inside and outside pics and do a watered down BPO using rental comps instead of Listed and Sold comps. All for $18 each and the headaches in dealing with their so called Asset Managers who have no clue as to what they are doing. Plus you have to be signed up with Realty Pilot. That's another $35 a month you have to pay.
Absolutely. Green River is horrendous. So much work for nothing, and no chance of a Listing! Just doing the Grind.Forget it... And Realty Pilot is a Joke... I am down to a handful of companies I deal with in the last 14 years doing BPO's and REO's . I always negotiate the fee. They offer 45.00 and I ask for 60.00 and that is only if there is 3 or 4 together. If it's an interior I want 100 to 150.
If you give them a minimum amount that you will work for, they can usually get it approved. Some asset managers make the spread over what they are given to supply the BPO to the bank and what they pay you to do it.
Replies
Donna, Most are doing this, do not let them run over you, set your standards and stick to it... I don't do BPO any more, due to the pay and the demands them keep increasing....Good luck!
A caption of an email i just got from Single Source:
"In an effort to balance increasing volume and pricing, please consider completing Exterior BPOs for a fee less than $40 and Interior BPOs for a fee less than $60"
So what they are saying is: We want you to work very hard but take less money. Just B/C we get more orders does not mean we make more money. More travel time, more gas and more doing these reports and not selling real estate!
The way I see it, $40 is barely minimum wage. When you factor in the cost of being in business, (E&O, licensing, CE, MLS, etc), plus the cost of gas, which obviously multiplies if you are in a rural area, plus the actual time spent driving and doing the form, it all adds up. Then from that pay minus any fees owed to a broker and minus the hefty taxes that self-employed/independent contractors get hit with at tax time, and $40 quickly becomes $20 and at 2 hours per average BPO including the driving, that is $10 an hour. Sorry but I am worth more than an unskilled worker. $40 may just be worth it if you live in a big city and are a couple of blocks from the property in question, but here in middle Georgia, the average round trip for me, based on the orders paid so far this year is between 35-40 miles. That is 2-3 gallons of gas on every trip, at about $3.60 at the moment. About 30 minutes driving and another 1-1.5 hour form work. The bare minimum fee at $20/hour is about $60 with all costs considered. Lately I have been asking for $70-$100 for anything more than a 20 mile round trip, and getting it. Instead of rushing to take every order, negotiation of the fee should always be done, so as to make sure that agents generally are being paid a fair market price for their work. These greedy businesses would literally have us work for peanuts if they thought we would take it.
Also, I have a suspicion that BPOs are being used everywhere possible, (where it is legal to do so), in place of a full appraisal, which would cost significantly more. A BPO provides a lot of the same information that an appraisal has, without having to pay the customary rates of an appraiser. So these greedy companies and clients are already getting a bargain by cheaping out and getting a BPO instead of a formal appraisal. The least they can do is negotiate with agents a fair fee and then actually pay the money they owe.
Yes, the payments are going down and features/requirements are being added. More companies are requiring individual feature comparison adjustments and repair costs (not just bottom-line differences adjustments). More work, more time spent, less reward. But so many agents nowadays just pawn the BPO off on a family member to take the pictures, run the comps and do the report dishonestly, just to get volume to make up the difference... I do all my own work so I'm limited in how many I can do at a time. And though I'm told that I do good work, my BPO offers have all but disappeared in the last few months. More competition from newer agents who will do a BPO for $30 and not know the difference.
This is the kind of rpt many of us got talked into doing for low, low rates. While it calls itself an inspection rpt. They do not hesitate to ask for price opinion, as is etc....
The sign is to show the property address after 6 shots. I forget the compensation. If I got paid it feels like not getting paid.
sign1.jpg
I noticed this trend of lower base fees for BPOs at the beginning of 2014. Many of the companies seem to have a base fee of $40. I get sent offers all of the time to do work for $40 but I always reject and state my desired fee. This arrangement has worked well for me, allowing me to get double or more for some locations. I am just south of Metro Atlanta but north of Macon. There is a good mixture of larger towns, small towns and rural areas in my region, and I have developed an idea of the most I can typically ask for a BPO, depending on the town or area in question. The larger towns up north tend to have more agents doing BPOs than the rural areas, so I can't ask as much of a fee, but on the plus side, it is always easier to find comps in those areas. The trick is to get not so little as to be working for nothing, but not so high that you price yourself out of regular work. I have been pretty lucky because it seems there are few other agents in my area who do BPOs at all, which has allowed me to increase my order volume and increase my fees at the same time.
The key to making good money with BPOs is to find the good companies that pay consistently, build a good working relationship with them and/or your rep, and get a feel for the maximum you can ask for in a particular area. I always try to stack multiple orders in the same direction too, so I can get them all in one go. Occasionally I might reject one which is out of the way unless the fee is very good. Coming on forums like this is also helpful because it allows us to talk among ourselves and warn about the deadbeat companies that won't pay up.
I enjoy my job doing BPOs, it allows me to work from home, be my own boss, and drive to places I haven't been before, while being able to run other errands when necessary.
I just laugh and sent them back. Inside valuation has been sending me BPO requests for 32.00 I have asked them to stop sending them as my base fee is 65.00 for BPO's that are clos be and it goes up from there. I know the value of my work and I will not work for peanuts.
I still get occasional emails from Green River Capital (GRC) of available BPOs and Property Inspections.
Yesterday I was emailed that a list of Rental Inspections "Property Inspections" were available. You still have to drive out to the property, take full inside and outside pics and do a watered down BPO using rental comps instead of Listed and Sold comps. All for $18 each and the headaches in dealing with their so called Asset Managers who have no clue as to what they are doing. Plus you have to be signed up with Realty Pilot. That's another $35 a month you have to pay.
Thank you, but I don't think so. I'll pass.
Absolutely. Green River is horrendous. So much work for nothing, and no chance of a Listing! Just doing the Grind.Forget it... And Realty Pilot is a Joke... I am down to a handful of companies I deal with in the last 14 years doing BPO's and REO's . I always negotiate the fee. They offer 45.00 and I ask for 60.00 and that is only if there is 3 or 4 together. If it's an interior I want 100 to 150.
If you give them a minimum amount that you will work for, they can usually get it approved. Some asset managers make the spread over what they are given to supply the BPO to the bank and what they pay you to do it.
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
-
5
of 8 Next