This question is for the asset managers if they visit this site. When you usually assign REO properties do you give 300 to one agent? Or do you assign to a certain real estate office and they should distribute among their agents who do REOs? I would like to hear others on this site if they heard of one agent getting so many. The reason I am asking I had a recent incident where I could not reach the agent to find out how we can get into the garage on the property. He never called me back and my client was getting livid. I tried calming my client. We had questions about putting an offer in etc. I had to end up calling the manager. I do not like to do that, but my client was not stopping, and I wanted to see if there was a logical reason like sick etc. The manager said I had to realize he had over 300 REO properties and cannot answer everyone. I said then maybe he should re-evaluate taking on so many and ticking agents off for not getting back to them. I further stated that he is doing the asset managers a disservice by not taking care of the listing by losing offers. In the end after talking to the manager and the agent directly on the issue it all worked out. I heard other agents mentioning the name on the same issue. Why in the world would asset managers assign so many listings to one agent? There are enough of good, reliable and conscious agents that love to get at least one listing. I have had REO listings and every agent I worked with were very complimentary. If you keep in touch with the agents and just inform them where you are with the process everyone is happy and wins. If you have a listing that seems to take long to get to close, and you keep in touch with everyone even if you do not have further news the deal will happen. Am I missing something here? Am I viewing this differently? Would appreciate other opinions.
Michael, I agree that the nighmare scenario you describe here (addicts partying, children crying, agents with the dumb questions) does in fact happen from time to time, but that is the exception, not the rule in most areas. And it is for the very reason that there is SO MUCH involved in managing REOs that agents should not be overloaded. It only makes sense, and you hear it loud and clear all the time. We understamd WHY it's happening, but it is not to eveyone's benefit, ESPECIALLY NOT THE PARTY WHO OWNS THE ASSET. Everyone involved would be better served if the the work was more sensibly distributed. It is very time consuming, frustrating, hard work, and a waste of resources, not just for the agents but for buyers as well when so often there is no communication, properties are not accessible, long turn around times, ect. But that's what the situation is so many times and we work through it as best we can, but it doesn't mean we should not try to improve and bring about much needed change. And of course, it goes without saying that we are all working very hard, whether we represent buyer or seller.
Hi Donna. Please don't take this as a negative but, I carry a lot of listings from several banks and I am one of those "evil" agents who can't always return calls. It is not that we can't handle the number of listings we have it is simply a matter of priorities. Honestly most real estate agents could not do what we do, nor do they want to. There is so much that goes into managing a bank asset, it is nothing like a traditional listing. I work 7 days a week, sometimes 14 hours a day. We have to have the financial resources for property preservation, evict less than happy people out of their homes, children crying as they load belongings into their cars. I have had several death threats in fact. We have drug addicts living in properties, gang members partying in them, other agents stealing signs, keys and lock boxes, neighbors stealing water, thieves stealing appliances, local municipalities breaking into our properties to "find" unpermitted code violations. BPO’s, monthly status reports, countless calls and emails from AM's. I personally write sign over 400 checks each month for utilities, contractors, etc. Then we get to take calls from agents that...let's just say are less than on the ball. I get calls from agents who want to know if I have offers on a property that they will not be showing for 4 more days??? What possible difference could it make if there are no offers on Tuesday when you are not going to show the property until Saturday? This is a small sample of types of calls we get, they get worse, I have a full time person whose job it is to answer agent questions, I state it in the mls as well as the fact that our listings are available if they are listed as active, and agents STILL try and call me until 10pm each night. After all that we still have to market the properties and get them sold. We do our best to communicate but as you can see it is not always top of mind.
Most of the time the asset managers are not even aware the REO agent is providing "bad" service because there are so many offers coming in. Like Jesse said they don't have the time to follow up on every listing and are just concerned about performance. The REO agent might not be doing a good job working with other agents or following up but in the asset manager's eyes they are doing a great job because they are selling the properties. In all fairness I also have to point out a lot of buyer agents are not trained as to how to write the offer for an REO property. It has to be written a lot differently than your typical resale. Our company has a class to teach all our agents how to write the offer to make it more likely to be accepted. The key is to get the offer accepted without getting a counter otherwise you are going to lose it to another buyer. Have talked to many REO agents and most of them get their listings because of their experience, credentials, relationships or ability to perform. Also, they assign the properties depending on the area the office is located. Our broker is opening more offices to get more listings in those areas we are not yet able to service. That's my two cents worth.
Ps
If you are not getting anywhere you might consider joining the company that has most of the REO properties. That's what I did and have a lot more leverage to help our investors. Also, most times the good properties sell in-house before it hits the MLS. You will also find out about the discounts and more pertinent information before the agents who are not with the company. Most important of all they won't ignore you since you will probably see them on a daily basis. Is it fair? Probably not but you can complain about it or do something to improve your chances.
I've been having the same issues. As an example, I've put in countless offers on multiple properties for one of my investors and the REO agents never communicated with me on anything. I submitted the offers with no acknowledgement and when I followed up on them the REO agents would never return phone calls, emails, nothing. I even went to their office but of course they weren't there. Even their assistant wouldn't communicate. On one property I found out we didn't get the offer by looking at the listing card on the MLS. It was pending. It's a bit frustrating to see such large amounts of REO listings being given to specific agents when they are obviously not able to handle the amount already on their plates. Don't get me wrong...I'm sure they've worked really hard for them, just as I am. However, client services go beyond listing the property and getting it into escrow. Hopefully they will get some help and provide better service or some of us other agents will be given more of an opportunity to provide that much needed quality of service.
I'm a firm believer that GOOD training makes good agents. And I will be working towards completing more REO related certifications. We all must work to improve our image, because there are so many "used car salesmen" out there that think they can sell a house. We all must demand excellence with those we work with, or don't do business with them. We all must demand ethics with those we work with, or don't do business with them!
I little bit of advice I give new agents in my office: karma is a nasty thing, becareful in how you treat other people. You do the right thing, every time, no exceptions, and karma will smile upon you eventually!
A certification / designation is only as good as the benefit it provides to it's membership. I know this, I live by this and it's this creed I use when deciding where to take the REOPro desigination. Some really exciting things for us are coming and I believe we may end up changing this industry drastically if it all works out.
So, it seems we have talked about both sides ... so now what? How do we get asset managers to assign work to more than their select few agents, despite being overwhelmed? Is it becoming REO Certified that Jesse is talking about? We may see that listings are sitting for longer periods due to these low performing agents, but do the asset management companies see that way? What are their guidelines for performance? If it's that low, then we will probably not see any changes from the asset managers (no offense!). How I see it is how do we bring change to this enivornment knowing both sides of the 'argument'? I'm all for the REO Certification but will that bring me and the other agents willing to give 110% assignemnts from asset managers?
Donna, I only have concerns about agents who are unethical and make bad representation for all of us. I have noticed "bulk" listings given to agents, new, experienced, and otherwise. I have heard that listing REO's is not only alot of work, very expensive and huge liability too. Some of the properties are damaged and a wreck inside; people get hurt..they stumble over bad carpet..cut by sharp object halfway in walls and doors..broken glass... Agents may have some funds, but they are limited too. I was previewing a property with clients one evening. It was a 4-unit building, and the electric was shut off. We used flashlights. The back door was hanging shut; the door knob was not necessary; it appeared that people were using home to stay overnight. Carpets were horrible and nasty. Lots of legal issues with the property. I still tried to sell it. I know that there are lots of wonderful agents out there with financial obligations. I hope the asset managers find a way to spread their share of the work to more agents in smaller quantity so that we can all do a good job and contribute to our economy.
Great post! I too have run into this problem several times in the past. I have REO listings and I have worked as a Buyer's Agent trying to purchase REO property, so I have experienced both sides. I never take more listings then I'm capable of handling. I will assign new listings to one the agents in my team to act as the primary agent to handle most of the paperwork and calls back and forth, then I oversees the entire process and in regular contact with the bank. There is simply no excuse for this type of action from some agents.
If they are so overwhelmed with listings, then create a team or hire agents to work with. Customer service always comes first with me and my team, no excuses! And if we cannot service the customer properly, we do not take on the extra work.
I work in a very large brokerage with multiple offices. My office alone has over 80 agents currently and it's one of the smaller offices. I have no shortage of agents wanting more work, many begging for table scraps. ;-) It's time that these banks and asset managers realize is that there are people that want there work and are willing to give it their 110% effort everyday!
And yes, these "no service" agents are loosing more deals then they make! There are a couple of local REO brokerages that I refuse to show their listings any more. I have tried several times in the past to show their properties and never received a call back, ever! There are too many houses out there to waste my time with someone who does not want my business to begin with.
Ok, rant over, off my soap box now. I feel better now, but this is my pet peeve with our industry.
Comments
Ps
If you are not getting anywhere you might consider joining the company that has most of the REO properties. That's what I did and have a lot more leverage to help our investors. Also, most times the good properties sell in-house before it hits the MLS. You will also find out about the discounts and more pertinent information before the agents who are not with the company. Most important of all they won't ignore you since you will probably see them on a daily basis. Is it fair? Probably not but you can complain about it or do something to improve your chances.
I'm a firm believer that GOOD training makes good agents. And I will be working towards completing more REO related certifications. We all must work to improve our image, because there are so many "used car salesmen" out there that think they can sell a house. We all must demand excellence with those we work with, or don't do business with them. We all must demand ethics with those we work with, or don't do business with them!
I little bit of advice I give new agents in my office: karma is a nasty thing, becareful in how you treat other people. You do the right thing, every time, no exceptions, and karma will smile upon you eventually!
If they are so overwhelmed with listings, then create a team or hire agents to work with. Customer service always comes first with me and my team, no excuses! And if we cannot service the customer properly, we do not take on the extra work.
I work in a very large brokerage with multiple offices. My office alone has over 80 agents currently and it's one of the smaller offices. I have no shortage of agents wanting more work, many begging for table scraps. ;-) It's time that these banks and asset managers realize is that there are people that want there work and are willing to give it their 110% effort everyday!
And yes, these "no service" agents are loosing more deals then they make! There are a couple of local REO brokerages that I refuse to show their listings any more. I have tried several times in the past to show their properties and never received a call back, ever! There are too many houses out there to waste my time with someone who does not want my business to begin with.
Ok, rant over, off my soap box now. I feel better now, but this is my pet peeve with our industry.
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