We have an agent in this area who lists with Fannie. Frequently the utilities are not on when I go to show these properties. The showing agent cards are piled on the counters, the places are freezing cold, so on and so forth. Yet, they keep getting the listings. I showed one today in which a disconnect noticed was hung on the front door for all to see...Yes, you got that right. The power had been shut off due to nonpayment. WHY???? Why do these agents keep getting the listings?
I feel alot of the Fannie Mae listing brokers in my area Are a joke..I noticed a lot of them are from miles away from the subject property. I'm talking 40-60 miles away. They are very unprofessional and the property's are managed poorly. I don't know if this is because they have more listings then they can handle or if they just suck. If only Fannie knew about these agents representing him I feel they would give them the boot..
I also have a beef with HUD Pemco on assigning properties to agents over 75 miles away from subject. I tried to contact the LBB about there property and didn't get a return phone call. My buyer called and she returned it 6 days later. The property is still available...really!! He inquired about having her come show him the property and she said that she cannot make it out there for 3-4 days. BUT...she was willing to give him the combo code to get in the house himself...WTF is that. I know there is a lot of good REO agents out there but for the rest of you...START DOING YOUR JOB OR....go back to your other job as a sleaze bag. Ok time to get off my soap box. By the way I'm an REO agent that has read and adheared to our Code of Ethics and Standards of Pratice. Maybe you should reread and follow it too... Have a great weekend!!
I am an (old) new agent to the business. I have been licensed for 30 years, but spent alot of my time as a banker. Some of these agents to whom you refer are totally bogged down with listings, thereby Fannie is disregarding their own 15-20 per agent. On one particular listing recently, the property was clean, etc, but I had a petential buyer, sent an email to listing agent and never heard back? Some of these "Listers" have a large staff that does all the work and whenever you have lots of people involved, productivity goes down.....that's my input.
At a recent Fannie broker training, they said to report these issues to 1-800-7FANNIE. I have no problems doing that now after Fannie emphasize that we have to report these kinds of problems. I've had no difficulty getting a driver to visit every listing every week. This is part of our listing agreement, and if agents aren't living up their end, then they better get out of the way for someone that takes this job seriously.
Much of it may be what they can or cannot do is being dictated by Fannie Mae and HUD. Sometimes their hands are tied, however, I agree more should be done in order for the owners (same as above) can get a better price for them. No rhyme or reason there. I know it is frustrating, but most of what the listing agents are saying below is true. To give you an example, I had a buyer who wanted to buy an advertised Fannie Mae home that was occupied by a Section 8 tenant. The mortgage loan requires that my client must take possession withing 60 days or she would be in default of her loan. Fannie Mae would not reqire the tenant move out in a timely manner (she was also demanding 90 days) so I advised my buyer to move on, and we did. She bought one of the town homes that had some remodeling and looked much better than the one she had looked at. I later learned that Fannie Mae would not ask the tenant to move out so it could be sold.
So true Barbara! I have over 10K out for reimburesment right now. I got a check last month for an asset that closed in June 2010. Crazy! You must use LPS for invoiceing too. Not fair they charge us $5 a submission. I try to save up invoices and do it it one shot and hope I get reimbursed. The worst asset comapny is the one that requires you to turn off the utilities proir to close (yeah right) and then submit your invoice before closing. Almost never happens in the given time frame to get the final bill in prior to close. Can't tell you how much money I spent that I'll never see again. Good thing I'm an independant contractor for my brokerage and can write that kind of thing off. I agree about the commission splits being offered these days. When I am basically a contractor for some of the companies I am wasting valuable marketing time getting rehabs done instead of selling and then getting the short end of the stick at closing does seem some what unfair. Never mind my time and expertise organizing the workers. My contractor hubby on non-REO jobs gets 20% of the repairs and materials and I get nada. LOL. Just closed another agents REO and the commission was to be $1000 and at close the seller changed it to 3%. There I am sitting with my buyers and what was I do to then? Refuse to close? Screw the poor list agent who was gettting even less than $1000 from jump? It was a "just walk away" moment. Luckily this buyer is an investor and will come back to me for more purchases down the road. I have to laugh about other agents looking to get into the REO feild. They constantly ask me for contacts to get listings. If they only knew the work load they'd be in for, which most will fall out after a few months of monthly reports and rehab bids. Plus I would't compromise AM's privacy that way. Also that I worked to get where I am now just to hand it to some newbie? Don't think so.
The truth is Fannie and Freddie do not expand their agent network as REOs increase. There is supposed to be a limit of 10 to 15 property assignments per listing agent. All are supposed to be within 30 miles of the Brokerage. I was told this by Fanies' legal department them selves. In Ohio we have agents servicing REOs for Fannie and Freddie over 2.5 hours from their offices and they get massive amounts of assignments per week. One agent told me he has so many he can not keep up. Add to this the way REOs in general are now being offered or assigned to a listing agent. Most Asset companies have reduced the commissions to the listing agent down so low( several are at 1%) and increased the work load for the listing agent that it really does not pay to take care of the properties as they should be. With the price of gas it is very difficult to justify 4 trips to a property per month for 2 or 4 months when the properties are 1 hour away and the list commission is say 350.00. Actually if you do all that is required to list REO properties today you will loose money on many of them. I have REO listings that now pay 1% even on 10K properties to the LA . The asset managers say "if you want the listings you must accept all of them and hope they average out or we will replace you." The reimbursements for utilities take so long in many cases and many times are turned down because of some small error. I know many agents who have over 10K out in property maintenance bills. Many big lenders expect all agents to front up to 2500.00 per repair for each assignment plus all the other expenses like monthly utilities. It is very easy to have 3 to 4 K tied up in a property. Then when you do get reimbursed there is a service fee taken from the amount for "their" booking keeping charge. Never do you get any interest and for get a service charge for loaning these banks the up front repair money that you are obligated to lend if you want the listings. Ever borrowed money from a bank with no interest and no payment plan and made them submit payment request repeatedly and charged them a service charge for YOUR book keeping. ? I have been a leading agent in the REO industry for over 14 years now. I see the paycheck shrinking and the work load increasing by well over 500% in those past 15 years. Why? Because so many agents want to work REO listings. These are the agents you see with the homes with no electric, no grass mowed and no property care. They realized how little money they make AFTER they became an REO agents. Now these agents give what they get... very little. I say shame on all of them. The Banks and Asset companies are getting what they pay for, and the "I wanna be an REO agent" agents are ruining it for all of us. This includes the reliable experienced REO agents who know how much work is involved and used to be able to say no to low ball LA and unreasonable requests to front repair money. Now the asset managers just pick up the phone and say "next" and commissions keep dropping and properties suffer.
I have to agree with some of the comments here but some are unfair. We are required to put on the combo lock boxes so the repair/maintainence people can access the properties easily and without an agent to open the door every time they decide to show up. Sure makes my job easier. One of my issues is re-keying the house to the given code and only allowed a certain amount that doesn't cover getting that specific key code from a locksmith. I suspect I have been turned in many times by other agents looking to denigrate my property management, but mostly the maintainence is out of my hands. Can't tell you how many times I've gotten vendor notification that work was completed, drove to subject and found nothing done and or if done it was done poorly. Many times I have had contractors do minor work for me and I just pay them out of pocket to keep the properies up to par and adjust it on my taxes later as an expense I was not reimbursed for. A lot of times I can not turn on utilities due to HVAC thefts, etc and FNMA wants to market as is. I have tried to turn in other FNMA agents who evidently do not care that the asset is unlocked and really out of their given work area. One agent in my area lives 50 miles up the interstate but must use the branch office in our town as his FNMA address. He is one of the worst but still has the majority of FNMA assets here. This agent never answers his phone either and if you do get a hold of him he will always tell you that he is getting a contract today and I shouldn't waste my time. Funny thing is his listings stay active forever when he's lied to the rest of us. Pocket listing anyone? LOL. We tend to avoid his listings because he doesn't like to share and is very difficult to work with. I also do two lockboxes when possible. When assets are rekeyed by vendors we don't know some will only leave one key in thier lockbox. For Gods sake other FNMA agents - go have another key made at your expense. Only costs a buck or two. I'd also recommend FNMA change thier combo soon as every Tom, Dick and Harry knows their codes now. I suspect some of the FNMA vendors used are the ones actually stealing the HVAC condensor units on about every REO in this area. I think a lot of agents who are in the REO marketing do not take personal responsibility most times for thier listings. I know I work my butt off marketing these REO's only to have them reassigned after three months. Three months is about what our area needs to get it out there. Oh well, I've been on both sides getting and then having them reassigned. I get it that AM's are overwhelmed, but some of them expect us to pull a rabbit out of a non-existant hat. We agents can only do so much. I do enjoy my job as REO listing agent though overall. Most of my AM's are very good but they are under management expectations that might also be unrealistic for them too. I know I'd be overwhelmed with 100 plus assets to deal with.
In our area Fannie and Freddie routinely visit homes and inspect the agent's work. Competition to be a participating broker is fierce and the agents that handle these accounts are excellent. The requirements and guidelines are ever changing and will force those agents not willing to comply or able to comply out. The GSE's and many large servicers are now requiring their agents to utilize electronic lock boxes as designated by their local boards. These lock boxes are reusable and a good investment for continued success in our ever changing markets. Also, most banks that I work with are willing to perform diagnostic evaluations on plumbing and electrical systems to ensure that utilities are safe to activate. I am sure that there are areas that these standards do not apply; however, it the targeted purchaser is an owner occupied purchaser, these standards should be met.
Where can we get "more" Fannie Mae properties to sell? .. I run our Fannie Mae REO department and we cant get anything from the asset managers!.. in the last 45 days we have sold almost "20" properties!!!
Comments
I feel alot of the Fannie Mae listing brokers in my area Are a joke..I noticed a lot of them are from miles away from the subject property. I'm talking 40-60 miles away. They are very unprofessional and the property's are managed poorly. I don't know if this is because they have more listings then they can handle or if they just suck. If only Fannie knew about these agents representing him I feel they would give them the boot..
I also have a beef with HUD Pemco on assigning properties to agents over 75 miles away from subject. I tried to contact the LBB about there property and didn't get a return phone call. My buyer called and she returned it 6 days later. The property is still available...really!! He inquired about having her come show him the property and she said that she cannot make it out there for 3-4 days. BUT...she was willing to give him the combo code to get in the house himself...WTF is that. I know there is a lot of good REO agents out there but for the rest of you...START DOING YOUR JOB OR....go back to your other job as a sleaze bag. Ok time to get off my soap box. By the way I'm an REO agent that has read and adheared to our Code of Ethics and Standards of Pratice. Maybe you should reread and follow it too... Have a great weekend!!
The truth is Fannie and Freddie do not expand their agent network as REOs increase. There is supposed to be a limit of 10 to 15 property assignments per listing agent. All are supposed to be within 30 miles of the Brokerage. I was told this by Fanies' legal department them selves. In Ohio we have agents servicing REOs for Fannie and Freddie over 2.5 hours from their offices and they get massive amounts of assignments per week. One agent told me he has so many he can not keep up. Add to this the way REOs in general are now being offered or assigned to a listing agent. Most Asset companies have reduced the commissions to the listing agent down so low( several are at 1%) and increased the work load for the listing agent that it really does not pay to take care of the properties as they should be. With the price of gas it is very difficult to justify 4 trips to a property per month for 2 or 4 months when the properties are 1 hour away and the list commission is say 350.00. Actually if you do all that is required to list REO properties today you will loose money on many of them. I have REO listings that now pay 1% even on 10K properties to the LA . The asset managers say "if you want the listings you must accept all of them and hope they average out or we will replace you." The reimbursements for utilities take so long in many cases and many times are turned down because of some small error. I know many agents who have over 10K out in property maintenance bills. Many big lenders expect all agents to front up to 2500.00 per repair for each assignment plus all the other expenses like monthly utilities. It is very easy to have 3 to 4 K tied up in a property. Then when you do get reimbursed there is a service fee taken from the amount for "their" booking keeping charge. Never do you get any interest and for get a service charge for loaning these banks the up front repair money that you are obligated to lend if you want the listings. Ever borrowed money from a bank with no interest and no payment plan and made them submit payment request repeatedly and charged them a service charge for YOUR book keeping. ? I have been a leading agent in the REO industry for over 14 years now. I see the paycheck shrinking and the work load increasing by well over 500% in those past 15 years. Why? Because so many agents want to work REO listings. These are the agents you see with the homes with no electric, no grass mowed and no property care. They realized how little money they make AFTER they became an REO agents. Now these agents give what they get... very little. I say shame on all of them. The Banks and Asset companies are getting what they pay for, and the "I wanna be an REO agent" agents are ruining it for all of us. This includes the reliable experienced REO agents who know how much work is involved and used to be able to say no to low ball LA and unreasonable requests to front repair money. Now the asset managers just pick up the phone and say "next" and commissions keep dropping and properties suffer.
All I can say is when I start getting
these assignments (maybe today);
I will do my best to address these
issues.
I think you were quick to judge and
point the finger at the broker for the
lack of electricity or the post from the
city. Many times there are issues
out of the brokers control. Doesn't
make them bad or neglectful. We are
all doing our best.
In anycase thanks for sharing!
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