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Escrow is that bit that makes sure all is fair in love and war when you sell your home and both parties (seller and buyer) are satisfied and fairly treated during this most testing of processes. If you have ever sold a home before – or indeed purchased one – you will have been more than aware of the term "Escrow".

Once the contract has been signed by the seller and once the buyer has put pen to paper, he or she is legally obligated to go ahead with the purchase. Should the seller pull out of the deal and has already signed the contract they may be subject to an administration fee or penalty charge for breaking the contract.

The escrow officer will read the details of the contract and every piece of small print that details fully the sale of that property. The escrow officer can act as a peacemaker in any dispute, verify any parts of the contract that one party doesn't quite understand and generally make the entire process of selling or buying property go smoothly.

The escrow company will make sure the mortgage lender releases any monies at the same time as the deed is recorded so it will reflect the new ownership of the property at the same time. To ensure the transaction is complete and the sale of the home runs smoothly, the escrow officer must hire a neutral arbiter to handle the funds, documents and transfer.

That third party can be the escrow company and in many states, the escrow company will handle the arbitration of the home sale by itself. You may choose which escrow company you hire to handle the sale of your property and in much the same way as you would choose a lender, a real estate agent or a solicitor to handle the different episodes that go with any property sale. Although, in the majority of Real Estate transactions, the seller typically chooses the Escrow Company.

An escrow company will open the process by assigning an account number or reference number that is unique to your sale. The escrow officer will collect the buyer's deposit funds and any other documents which related to the sale of the property.

The escrow officer can be your hand holder during the process and are their for both the buyer and seller, to explain the fine details that you may be unsure of.

PamsVAS - Real Estate Virtual Assistant Services

The difference between a listing agent and a buyers agent can be confusing to some people. The listing agent works for the person or persons selling a property. The listing agent usually provides the seller with a market analysis of the surrounding area, opinion of listing price and property value and explain in detail all the fees that the seller will be required to pay, including commissions. The listing agent must evaluate all the local homes for sale that are of a similar size and style to the one they will help to sell. This will give the seller and the listing agent an estimate of value and how much a seller should list the house for.

Once the listing agreement is signed, the Listing agent can then prepare the property for showings and place the property on the MLS and major websites with photos and at the agreed upon list price. 

A listing agent has the real focus to sell a home and sorts through interested and prospective buyers and arrange to show them around the property and highlight all the good points about living in that particular property. Often the seller is not present while the listing agent shows prospective buyers around properties.

The selling agent/Buyers agent will represent the buyer, who should have an idea of their pre-approved price range, and a wish list like: certain amount of bedrooms and bathrooms, location, amenities, etc. The Buyer's agent  can then sift through all the homes currently active on the mls and recommend properties that fit their buyers criteria and price range. The can then show the prospective buyer around the property in the same way the listing agent will do for the seller.

Before you sell your home or start looking for a home to buy, be sure you know the differences of the different types of agents, and choose the one that will represent you and your interest solely.

www.pamsvas.com

Investors in financial commodities such as the dollar and government bonds have been watching very closely at mortgage rate trends, primarily to see if the Fed will push interest rates up. According to Bankrate.com, a national survey firm of big lenders, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage level is down from 4.31 to 4.30 per cent. It may be a small dip but when you think a year ago (in July 2013) this figure stood at 4.56 per cent, you can start to see a downward trend.

Even the benchmark rate for fixed 15-year mortgages was down from 3.41 to 3.40 per cent in the space of just a week. The thing is rates have been in some kind of financial hibernation for what seems like ages and this might be explained by a series of unstable economic figures that have been coming out.

But experts believe rates might well start to fluctuate during August and September but they are certain to stay well below 5% for some time to come. Earlier this year, experts had predicted that the mortgage rates would start to rise and it has come as a bit of a surprise that here we are, more than half way through the year and the rates are still so low.

It seems that the prime factors that so often move the markets have a very small effect. In other words, a piece of economic news will come out and suddenly the markets move – but then, just an hour later they drop back to the very position they were in before. The pause in massive rate changes has to be down to confusion within investors; they receive economic news and act upon it but caution and fear prevents any chance-taking and opportunistic investing such as the likes we saw back in the earlier years of this century.

Take the example of the latest figures released on unemployment; this ratio of those out of work fell sharply and that means with more people in work, spending should go up. But consumers are still very cautious about spending money and if you don't spend money, the economy just can't get going. Moreover, a stagnant economy means growth cannot happen and interest rates are likely to stagnate too.

Home buyers are wary – very wary. The housing market downturn around 2007 clearly still has a long-lasting and damaging effect on us, and will do so for several years to come.

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EXCITING NEWS!

BPO Automation Group, LLC has just completed the sale of its software, Order Central, to the firm of Order Capture, Inc. This change will result in the ability of each firm to focus solely on one product. For BPOA the sole product will be its very successful AutoFill software. For OCI, the sole focus will be on enhancing the capability of Order Central software by adding new tasks to its capture capability and improvements to the software itself. The staff of Order Capture, Inc. includes Steve Lorimer, BPOA's former part-owner/Sales Manager, and the original Order Central development team with some added members.

The pricing, cancellation and refund policies, along with the software tasks and most of its capabilities have not changed, thus the software you have experienced at BPOA will continue to reliably capture orders for you. But, you will need to sign up for your credit card billing at Order Capture.com and download the slightly revised software.

All BPOA customers, upon transition over to Order Capture, Inc. will continue with their pricing plan that has been in effect at BPOA. This pricing will continue at Order Capture, Inc. Moving over to Order Capture, Inc. from BPO Automation Group is easy and should only take a few minutes. You should do it as soon as possible to avoid future disruption of service. If you have any questions or concerns about this move, please don't hesitate to contact either Steve at: support@ordercapture.com or support@bpo-automation.com.

Here is how to enjoy a quick and easy transition to Order Capture, Inc:

1. Go to www.ordercapture.com and browse for awhile, then click on the ‘Start Today’ tab. When prompted for the license key that you have had assigned to you at the BPO Automation Group there are two choices:

   * Click on the ‘Key Look Up’ tab and enter your name and email address. This link will provide your license key quickly and easily so that it can be copy and pasted into the license key prompt.

   * You can go to the Settings tab within Order Central to see your license key. It is a long code that looks like ABCD-EFGH-IJKL-MNOP-QRST-UVWX-YZTA. This would have also been emailed to you when you first signed up for Order Central with BPO Automation Group.

2. Select whether you are primarily a BPO agent or appraiser and click Submit. You will be directed to a secure billing screen for entry of your credit card information. For security reasons, we are unable to transfer your credit card information automatically from BPO Automation to Order Capture, Inc.

3. Upon completion of the billing information, go back to the Start Today tab and click, DOWNLOAD. If you need any help installing Order Central 2.0, please refer to the Installation Guide at: http://ordercapture.com/support/installation-guide/. Follow the directions and your software will be downloaded quickly for your use.

4. Order Central for BPO Automation Group is in version 1.0. At Order Capture, Inc., we have updated Order Central to 2.0 and added some improvements that are mostly behind the scenes. To continue using Order Central, you must install Order Central 2.0. Your account at BPOA will be terminated on June 15^th, so be sure to transition over prior to then. Your current version of Order Central will not automatically update to 2.0.

5. Again, if you need any help installing Order Central 2.0, please refer to the Installation Guide.

6. Once you've installed Order Central 2.0, the first time you run it, you will be asked to enter the email address you used to sign up and the password you entered.

7. You should now uninstall Order Central 1.0.

We have taken steps to insure that double billing will not occur during the switch-over from BPOA to OCI. If you see anything that appears incorrect on your next billing statements, please know that you will be issued a refund for any duplicate billings, if any, that are found.

You should find Order Central 2.0 to be very familiar and won't require any relearning. Most enhancements we've made are under the hood. We want to make sure current BPO Automation Group customers are able to transition smoothly before we introduce new features.

Thank you,

Nicole Ocean and Steve Lorimer

It's true, when you think about getting a mortgage for that condo or getting an offer put together for that speed boat on credit, we are upset when the credit company or the mortgage lender turns us down. This is all despite the fact that we have a good salary, a steady job and always pay off our credit card bills on time.

It's a fact that millions of Americans have absolutely no idea how their credit score is calculated. There have been at least four surveys that have taken place in America that ask us what it is we think affects our credit score. In some of the surveys, well over 20 questions have been posed. But while the majority of us know that mortgage lenders and those dishing out credit cards definitely use them to check on us if we submit an application – there are huge gaps in the knowledge surrounding the other factors that could directly help or hinder our credit score.

Generic Scoring

Less than half of all Americans are aware of the three key points where lenders and banks use generic scores. This is where you find your score start to go down just for applying for another credit card, making an application for a mortgage or applying to buy that Harley Davidson Fat Bob on credit. It does not matter if your creditors approved those mortgages, credit card applications or a chance for you to cruise down Route 66 on credit or not – your credit score will be affected by the application process alone.

If there is a risk that you may not be able to pay off that loan, then your credit score will be affected; not a lot of Americans knew that. This could be due to something as simple as being in a job that has some form of instability associated to its industry. But Americans can do something to improve their credit rating and paying all your bills, loans and credit cards on time does go a long way to help.

Many young Americans seem to be less savvy when it comes to understanding what pushes our credit score up or down, particularly the age group between 18 and 32. There are however several online websites that mimic the factors that determine our credit score and it would be prudent to those of us that do not know how our credit score is defined, to pay attentions to it.

Keep your eyes on that credit score and do your research before applying for a loan, credit card or mortgage.

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You may have heard the term "HUD home" from time to time and wondered what these properties actually were. HUD homes are properties that have been repossessed following the original owners failing to keep up with mortgage payments. A series of foreclosure proceedings takes place and the home once possessed, goes on to become a HUD home. This is because the property is now managed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The HUD (Housing and Urban Development Department) becomes the rightful owner following foreclosure and will then seek to sell off the property to a new buyer in order to recover the costs. If you are a member of the public and want to bid on a HUD home you would need a realtor to place a bid for you and the real estate agent must be registered to bid on a HUD home (they will instantly be able to tell you whether they are registered or not).

HUD homes are often located in an area where revitalization is taking place. These are urban areas which may have had a high crime rate or poor development in the past and are now becoming areas where the local government and state housing departments are taking action to improve the area. Good Neighbours – Every District Needs Good Neighbors.

Chase service released "select loans" to SPS last month, now PennyMac is service releasing loans to Nationstar this month. This is first hand information on the assets/portfolios I'm working on and may not affect YOUR inventory obviously. But heads up people, you knew it (service release) was happening and going to happen even more (if you were paying attention).

Make sure your profile is polished to a shine and up to date in WHATEVER management platforms you are on, and moreover, if you're not already on the new Servicer/AMC's vendor list from before the service release, you MAY be left in the dust. And yes, I'm coughing on some dust myself. Cough, cough, SPS. 

Man vs. Machine – It is the age-old question. Can a machine replace a person? People and computers have worked together to make most tasks simpler and faster. People have invented brilliant machines and programs to boost our productivity, and in return raise our profits. Machines can process information faster. They can solve problems and provide specific and up-to-date solutions. So is it safe to say that machines have replaced the real estate agent? Does it mean that we don't need real live agents anymore being that technology can do a lot of the job?

Absolutely not! These machines still need human input. Any computer savvy real estate agent or his assistant can manage all of his properties online, freeing the agents’ time for meetings with prospective clients, showing properties, etc. It is also  a great way to ‘weed out’ the serious buyers over the ‘browsers’. While the ‘browsers’ are content to stay at home viewing all of the wonderful information you have on the internet, the serious buyer is already hooked on his dream home and is making an appointment.

There are many ways to advertise your property online, detailed descriptions, photos, virtual tours, videos and the like. The serious buyer will still want to see the property in person while the ‘browser’ will be satisfied with the online information and browse to their hearts content. Finding a home has never been as easy as it is today. Everything is right at the tip of our fingers. With just a few clicks, we can browse different price ranges, styles, square footage, room counts, lot sizes, and neighborhoods; we can even narrow our search to minute details in seconds. We can submit pre-approval applications and even estimate what our payments might be.

There are many areas where a realtor humbles technology. One of those areas that a machine cannot compete with is that the realtor knows all of the intricate details of a property. The computer can only pull all related key words that you put into the search. The realtor is physically acquainted with the property. They can also explain all of your possible mortgage options, property taxes, and any repairs that the home may need. These things are usually not disclosed online. A realtor can also orchestrate negotiations for the price which technology, even as advanced as it is cannot do.

Lastly, a realtor is there to help you with the entire home buying process. Testimonials tell us that there are a lot of challenges in home buying. A realtor is there to understand, encourage, and support us with all of the paper work, legal terms, financing, closing, etc. They are essential in making our dream home a reality. In short, with a realtor we can prepare, save, and complete our home purchase.

So even with the rise of technology, a real estate agent is still more effective than a computer. Of course, the use of both is most effective. Realtors should partner with technology to manage their listings and time so that they can serve homebuyers in the most time and cost efficient way. This would definitely boost the agents’ success.

It is vital for realtors in this day and age to be fully armed with the latest in technology. The problem is that most realtors do not have the time to educate themselves in the ever-changing ways of technology. The realtor has to manage his time effectively and be "out there" showing homes, talking to clients, building relationships and selling homes!

This is where a virtual office assistant can be a major help. Virtual assistants have many areas of expertise in the real estate field. They can take the stress out of your time management by taking your calls, managing your online portfolio, social media marketing, preparing BPO reports, managing your bills and reimbursements, home repairs, preparing spreadsheets, presentations, reports and many other tasks that you just do not have time for.

A virtual assistant can do just about any task that you need done, with less overhead cost than an in office assistant. To find out more about what a virtual assistant can do to help you achieve your goals, please feel free to contact us.

What makes a REO Agent different than your Typical Agent?

Our Personal Investment in Our Own Education: Most all successful REO agents are highly trained and heavily invested in their education. It’s not uncommon for a successful REO agent to have thousands of dollars every year go towards education or the maintenance of costly designations and certifications. Our clients demand that we make these costly investments to ensure they are entrusting the right kind of person with their portfolio of asset which could result in millions of dollars worth of transactions. Our investment in our education ensures our clients that we know what we are suppose to do.

Our Clients Investment in Our Education: Not only do we personally invest in our education and continuing education, our clients also invest by providing us with weekly white papers, weekly webinars, regular training / procedural updates, new regulation and statutory requirements, updates to local ordinances, etc. When our clients take us on, they expect to create a partnership where knowledge is relayed back and forth, seamlessly, without exception, protecting each other and keeping our mutual goals and interest in the forefront of our daily activity.

Performance Metrics and Standards: Unlike a typical agent, we are held to a higher standard. Our clients use measurable and calculable performance metrics to ensure that we are putting our education to good use.  Our client relationships are just about the warm and fuzzy feeling you get when you talk about listing a home or meet a client for the first time. It’s about hard numbers. A REO agent has no choice but to perform and be at the top of their game otherwise, our clients know they can find someone else.

We Don’t Just Compete for a Listing, We Constantly Compete for our Jobs: We are different from other agents in the fact that we don’t just compete with other agents for a 6 month listing agreement on a single home. We are constantly competing to keep our client on every single transaction. Our performance metrics are many times written in stone. That is, we are only as good to our clients as our last closing so, if we aren’t closing the number of properties we are told to or if we aren’t maintaining them the way the clients wants them maintained, we are out. You see, our clients are setting on thousands of applications for our jobs, they have thousands of back up names they can easily just bring on and move our listings over to the “new” guy.  Our clients attend national conferences where they meet thousands of agents who want our jobs and these agents are cut throat and will do whatever it takes to knock us out and put themselves in so, unlike other agents, we are constantly in a state of competition….for our livelihoods.

Experience Like None Other: We are much more than just a listing agent. You see, our clients don’t live or work in the area we service so, we are truly the eyes, ears, hands and will of our clients. So, we can’t just list a property and forget about it till we get an offer. We have to visit the property weekly, walk through it, check for damage, report vandalism, make repairs, document everything and enforce our clients will. We come up with detailed analysis of the home’s value, we isolate marketing problems, we come up with sales strategies, we target potential buyers. We also work with evictions; negotiate relocations work with law enforcement and in some situations, we clear out homes. In essence, we aren’t just listing agents; we are property managers for our clients.

We Experience the Tragedy of Foreclosure Daily: As a REO agent, we are keenly aware that every new assignment allows us the opportunity and privilege, even if for nothing more than the briefest moment, to touch the human tragedy of losing a home to foreclosure. In this key difference, we stand out from most because no other segment of our industry can truly relate to having to talk to a single mother of three kids, all under the age of 12, working two jobs and having to tell her she is no longer able to live in the home her children have only known. In this situation, a piece of us dies every time.

To sum it all up, what makes us different than a typical agent, well….it’s actually really simple and it’s expectation. We are expected to perform at a higher standard than our non-reo counterparts because our clients are educated and experienced themselves and therefore, know what to expect. In this, we are blessed and cursed.

When it comes to labor costs, real estate virtual assistants prove to be very cost-effective. Most VAs are paid on a per project basis or as based on the actual job performed. A real estate agent can also choose which responsibilities he wishes to tackle on his own, and delegate to virtual assistant areas of concern beyond his clout. Virtual assistants can perform duties that maybe beyond your experience and comprehension, of which she has expertise and experience. 

I have written articles on the drought of REOs and many of you are experiencing the drought personally and have shifted your business but, make no mistake, it isn't because foreclosures have slowed, stopped or the economy is getting better. In fact, most of these banks are moving their REO inventories off their books to hedge funds, bulk portfolio buyers or even worse, shell companies like (fill in the blank) which then dispose of the property directly. Don't believe me? Well, here ya go, read this!

http://www.inman.com/wire/share-of-unlisted-vacant-homes-hits-highest-level-in-13-years/

Now, after reading that inman.com news article, tell me how great this economy is.

Predominantly, REOs can be found on bank and various mortgage lender websites. Lucky for those who have contacts, they can easily get good deals from insider information. Today, however, these financial institutions often sell their REOs in bulk or have these properties marketed by real estate brokers with standalone listings on their site. You can check out multiple listings on the net and make use of these sites with their easy-search mechanism. Some sites allow you to filter your search according to location, price range, property type, square footage, and sometimes, number of bedrooms and baths. This somehow saves you time and effort in finding the best property to invest upon. If buying REOs is an entirely new endeavor, working with an REO specialist can be of great help in locating the perfect property for you at a much reasonable price.

Future is Certain, REO to Rent to Become Stable Market Segment

A recent article by Amilda Dymi published on 9/12/2013 @ 2:24pm ET titled “The Single-Family REO Asset Class is Here to Stay” brings up a very interesting set of questions for the REO industry.

Amilda’s article sources are Jade Rahmani of Keefe Bruyette & Woods believes foreclosure to rent properties are growing and perhaps are already considered a growing segment of the REO market which will be with us for the long haul.

Jade reports that the next 12-24 months will see growth in this market so, as a REO agent, I stop and ask myself, what does that mean to my REO listing inventory? Well, I can safely assume we will see more of the same. More specifically, we will see more and more REO agent portfolios shrink and in many cases, become non-existent. This will further weed out the REO agent specialization and further teaches agents that keeping their ear to the pulse of the industry and being able to change focus will remain paramount to the success of high producing agents.

Before 2007, agents were all a buzz with certifications, designations, training courses, etc.. to sale new homes, stage homes, learn about new home green features, etc… After 2007, agents started seeing classes, certifications, designations, training courses for REO and foreclosures. In 2009, we saw a huge emphasis on foreclosure prevention, avoid foreclosure, modify, refinance, etc… 2012’ish, we saw the huge push for short sales and all kinds of seminars, certifications, designations, training courses, seminars, etc… were on every corner. Now, with this whole REO-Rent segment, guess what we are seeing, all kinds of courses, certifications, designations, seminars on how to be a REO Property Manager.

The big push of this “new” type of segment is due to positive cash flow. The truth of the matter is, unemployment is forecasted be high for the foreseeable future and with high unemployment, comes high distressed homeowners. These homeowners will be forced into the rental market, one way or another and if they can stay in the home and just rent it….at least the asset is performing and in most cases, the bank can still get a positive cash flow, even if it’s considerably less if the occupant was paying their mortgage. In other words, it’s not going anywhere, anytime soon and per the article, it’s going to grow like gang busters the next 12-24 months.

So, what do we REO Agents do? We endure, as we always have. The only thing now is, we need to ensure we are diversifying our own business to ensure we continue to endure. We all know NAR has done little to nothing to address our REO woes and therefore, it’s on us to ensure our business survives and if God willing, thrives and the name of that game is diversification.

Yeah, that means we are likely going to be jumping on and off the “education” wagon for all kinds of new certifications, designations, etc… but, we also should be looking closely at our revenue streams and ensuring that REO…in all it’s forms….isn’t the sole majority of our income. Truth be told, in this political climate, it’s just too risky.

The Reasons Why We Do Not Have High REO Inventories

The business head lines today read, “US Labor Participation Rate at Lowest Level in 30 Years” or “US Labor Participation Rate at Lowest Rate Since Carter Administration” and yet, I am trying to figure out why my REO inventory this year has shrunk to pre 2007 bubble bursting levels. To make this point a little more pointed, let me share a little statistic from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Our current unemployment rate is 7.3% and the last time we were at 7.3% was December of 2008. Now, think back to December of 2008, think of your REO inventory….are you at that level today? I would venture to say, likely not. Are you still confused as to what my point is? Well, let me say it this way. If you add in the participation rate with the unemployment numbers, you get a “real” unemployment number of 9.4% and the last time we were at 9.4% or higher was May of 2009 thru November 2010 so, think back to you REO inventory then….are you at those same levels today? Once again, I venture to say….likely not.

So, how is it that we have a “real” unemployment rate at or higher than the worse unemployment we have had accordingly to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the past 4-5 years and yet, we don’t have a correlated REO inventory?

Well, I am no economist however, I have some speculative theories, let me share.

1. Obama Administration Homeowner Assistance Programs: Obama has directed HUD and the US Department of Treasury to stop the foreclosure crisis by implementing several foreclosure avoidance programs through joint department efforts like the Making Home Affordable programs. Do you know how many entitlement programs there are? Likely you don’t so, let me share…..
   1. HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program)
   2. PRA (Principal Reduction Alternative)
   3. 2MP (Second Lien Modification Program)
   4. HARP (Home Affordable Refinance Program)
   5. FHA2LP (Treasury / FHA Second Lien Program)
   6. UP (Home Affordable Unemployment Program)
   7. EHLP (Emergency Homeowner’s Loan Program)
   8. FHA Forbearance
   9. HECM (Home Equity Conversion Mortgage)

So, you had no idea…did you? Granted, my blog isn’t long enough to go into details on each of these programs with you however, for more information you can call the NSC at 1-877-622-8525. The Obama administration has used all of these foreclosure avoidance strategies in a very similar way the Community Reinvestment Act set up , built up and ultimately collapsed our economy in 2007 with the bursting of the real estate bubble. Oooops, “did I say that?” HELL yes, I did.

That’s right, the reason we don’t have REO inventory as REO Professionals is because our President has decimated our industry by artificially and manipulatively used foreclosures as a political tool for re-election of himself and his party. Sadly, most of the American public don’t understand what this does to home values……so, let me explain. It artificially inflates home prices by restricting legitimate inventory from hitting the market place. It sets up our country for a 10(+) year trickling of these vacant, distressed, properties to the market place. Ok..sure, it can be argued that by doing this we are stabilizing the housing market and sure, I will relent and say….it does however, only for the short term. In fact, it makes things a little worse because, we end up sitting on inventory and God forbid, another economic crisis hits or the current one drags on for longer than expected and we end up with more and more and more and more water behind an aging, over burdened, crippled, dilapidated damn that is ready to blow.

Think of the housing crisis as a man mad lake with one side plugged up by a huge damn. Think of the water in the lake as all of the houses that are distressed, under water, risk of foreclosure. Right now, our lake is so full, we have foreclosures literally spilling over the top. Our economy…the damn, is barely holding and with a growing “Shadow” inventory of REO homes, high unemployment, high “real” unemployment and these continuing foreclosure avoidance / rescue programs……we will have a seriously problem, eventually.

I had a listing that was “chosen for alternate marketing” …AUCTION. Now comes the new LA. This is after 3 months of pre listing tasks and only 2 weeks of marketing with the original asset management company. The original LA was a 1500.00 min commission to the LA. Not really all that bad on a 32K property. Actually a very fair commission if you don’t break it down by hourly increments. The auction LA comes and it is now a new commission. 800.00 minus the fee so it comes to 645.00 for the LA. The day the property went to the auction e mails began arriving. A BPO , new photos , a property condition report, bids for repairs and several other “requirements” now on the auction platform all waiting for completion by me. Meanwhile the other emails began. Several of the auction minions began directing all in different directions on their separate tasks. At least 3 demanded the new BPO be e- mailed directly to them. Each not knowing the other was requesting the same task. Now I am not going to bore anyone with all the miss step,  lack of communication and disrespect these auction companies have involving the Listing agent.  I am not going to delve into ALL of the downsides of these assignments when they go into the “Auction world”. Most REO agents have their “own war stories” to attest to on this subject. Suffice it to say there are too many issues for me to discuss here and now. I will skim over just a small amount of BS in the Auction process. The Auction company needed me for anything and everything they needed and nothing in anyway beneficial or even in consideration of me. They removed my sign on the first day, thus removing the ability I would have for a local buyer to contact me directly. They never communicated with me, never sent me the offer or even the accepted contract, never informed me of the closing agent and never once kept me informed of a property that I was claimed to be the listing agent on. Finally 12 hours before they had scheduled closing  the escrow agent  informed me I had to pay a “past due sewer bill of 124.00 or this would not close. This came via e mail at 4:30 and closing was to be at 9 AM. I had no contact numbers no e mail addresses other than this escrow agent’s.  I had previously checked for any past due bills and saw all were paid. Since no utilities were on at the property due to missing plumbing I was a little confused by the 124.00 newly discovered bill. I called and the escrow agent and got no response. (What a Surprise!!) The next day I called the city for the “past due” sewer bill amount that was said to be holding the closing.  The person I spoke to informed me that it was not a sewer bill but a trash service bill that follows the previous owner not the property. It was assessed in 2010. It had no effect on the property or the deed.  Now here we go. If I had paid that bill it would have been on behalf of the previous owner. No reimbursement would have been given to me and I would have been out 124.00 making the commission on the entire listing dwindle to 397.00 for all the work I did. I made up my mind in that very moment to refuse to do even one more of these auction assignments. I would rather work for nothing for 3 months than worked for pennies for 6 months. The auction companies need the Agent to keep the utilities on, keep doing property checks and to pay any bills that are discovered in the last hours prior to closing. They need us to keep the property in the MLS. They need their website on the MLS to direct local buyers to them for the auction. They need us to do all the work they get paid for. This sale was 16000 K. I had an offer for 21 K days prior to the auction.  The auction company charged the seller 2700.00 auction and another 1500 for management fees a total of 4200.00 on a property that sold for 16 K!! The auction in turn was paying me 645.00. The auction company also charged the buyer a premium of  5 %. So for all my work the auction company received 5000.00 and paid me 645.00. (Again only 397.00 if I had been dumb enough to pay the 124.00.) The banks are willing to pay these auction companies well over 6 %. In fact this was a 33.2 percent fee of the total selling price!! On top of all this the original Asset Company also was paid a fee for their participation in the asset process!! Auction companies do not have employees in the area. That is our trump card here. They have to have an agent. So does the seller. So why do we work for pennies when we see the banks WILL pay absurd amounts for the property disposition for only minimal work by the auction companies?? Why do we ever agree to assist the auction companies who continue to use us? All REO agents may think about  declining the assignments when they are chosen for “alternative disposition” by way of any auction. The asset managers love when you do this. The auctions companies are in direct competition with them. .After the above mentioned auction I refused the next one. It was taken from the auction company and given back to me PRIOR to the auction start date for traditional marketing on the MLS. Not participating in the auction process is a very small step in gaining some of the self-respect we have lost.

It's not dead, it's gone in to hiding so the industry can recover from the onslaught of politicians with nothing else better to do but "save" everyone and, in doing so, cripple an entire industry. Not to mention them going against one thing that is supposed to happen with a capitalism economy; right alongside success is also failure. Companies fail and get rebuilt. People fail and homes, cars, boats, etc. get repossessed by the banks. It's the capitalistic circle of life!  Industries are built on this circle. From mortgage brokers to real estate agents. The irony is that many of their saving programs failed and we will be right back where we were. In the meantime, how many in our industry will now fall? The current administration only saved a few but in doing so they caused a quite a few more to fall. How is that progress? How is that change? To make it worse, those that were saved only failed later. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying there weren’t some serious issues in the foreclosure world. There was fraud, invalid foreclosures, and a few other problems. The government, with the National Mortgage Settlement, made those at fault pay to the tune over $51 billion. However, that still doesn’t change the fact that foreclosures will not die so long as we have capitalism. Banks will still lend, and, for many various reasons, people will still default, and the banks will repossess. We won't have what we did 5 yrs. ago but there will be plenty to go around and if another bubble bursts I bet that there will much less of a noticeable celebration in the industry that makes money from it......after all, we wouldn't want to give the politicians another opportunity to grandstand at the expense of the real estate industry.

Now, speaking of politicians interfering. One of the first things done when the current administration took office was a moratorium on foreclosure activity. All banks that had foreclosures were ordered to stop processing them. Next come the reviews, audits, fines, etc.. (all of which were dealt with as mentioned above and the National Mortgage Settlement) and here we are a few years later and they are now finally getting back to where they can proceed with business, which does mean finally processing those properties in default. Interestingly enough those orders did not include Fannie and Freddie with whom the government has a significant vested interest. What’s the point you ask? Well, have you seen Fannie’s profits for the 2^nd quarter? $10.2 BILLION! Yes, that’s billion with a B. So, in essence, the government shut down all of their competition and reaped the rewards. How would you like to shut down every real estate agent in your market area and take every listing out there for nearly 4 years? Pretty slick if you ask me.

I have a webinar to teach in an hour so I better end the rant. I will close by saying what I started with, that REO’s are not dead, but merely in hiding. Banks want to keep a low profile on their foreclosures activity so they won’t have politicians interfering again. Wouldn’t you if you had to pay $51 Billion the last time they interfered? In addition, if you don’t really believe me then understand I have been doing this for 10 years and I know patterns when I see them. Keep an eye on all of the reports and you will see some that state foreclosures are down while others state they are up. Why the confusion? Well…..good question…why? 

One of the most challenging tasks in real estate is REO's. Bank-owned homes or “real estate owned” properties are often due to foreclosures while some have been foreclosed for quite some time. One needs to be a tough salesman to be able to market REO’s successfully. REO agents are definitely more complicated and harried than “normal” real estate agents. More often than not they would need the help of an experienced virtual assistant knowledgeable on how to work with REO properties. To give you a clear understanding on the significance of REO VA's, here are the top 3 services that REO VA’s normally offer to real estate firms or private realtors.

Online Listings Management

Indeed, managing REOs can be quite a challenge. You are not only dealing with foreclosed properties but might also be dealing with a property that requires maximum attention. With the number of REOs on your plate, you simply cannot do it alone and this is where a reliable virtual assistant comes in handy.