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Looking to build a team

Do you live in Orange County, CA? Are you an active agent but biz is kinda slow? Are you looking to get into the REO biz but can't due to the overwhelming amount of agents also trying to follow suit? Are you looking to subsidize your income so you can weather the storm? Now most important are you a team player?I am looking to form a team. I work with several asset managers and I am extremely busy. I am having to turn biz away and I decided that I do not want to do that. I am looking to create a team to help me with my biz in return for a commission split. You will also get paid 95% on your own personal business. I am looking for seasoned agents who want to learn the REO biz but also want to continue to market themselves and add to their own personal biz.Does this peak you interest? If so please call me because I could use the help. Thanks~Stacie
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REO Workflow

I would like to hear from some of the members on their opinions of software for their workflow. What kind of management tools are you using for your business and how do you like them? Franklin Covey organizers? Outlook? REOMaestro? AgentOffice?
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Ok, so, I got to thinking, what if we (REOPro) created our own designation? Sounds great and all however, I want it to be the kind of designation that makes a difference. When people say they are a REOPro, I really want it to stand for something. With as much experience as we have on this site, maybe we can do it. Of course, right now, it’s just a pipe dream however, I am no Amy Winehouse, my pipe dreams come true…...occasionally. So, what ya think, could we do something like that? Would you be willing to help and add content or material? Better yet, do you have a contact that would be willing to sponsor a training program and in return, use our members, who have passed training as their dedicated REOPro Agents? Before any of you start biting at the bit…..bear with me here. Take a deep breathe, wait 10 seconds, then exhale…….this is just a thought at the moment. I am taking the temperature of our membership to see if this would even be a possibility. Obviously, it gives you a big clue as to where I want this whole “Social Network” to go but, baby steps first. In other words, share your thoughts with me, let me know what you think, I would greatly appreciate it.
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Combo Lockboxes. A Fales Sense of Security?

Second item on the REO To-Do list: Secure the property. Many Asset Managers have a preferred type of combination lockbox and/or a preferred code for their Bank-owned properties. Some even have preferred Master Locks they want us to use. Almost all I've worked with want some kind of combination lockbox.But are these lockboxes really secure?There have been a number of recent occurances in our area where appliances are missing. Who would take appliances? Are they getting access through an open window or door? Or simply through a combo code that was verbally passed along?...After all, once that code leaves our lips how do we know who else knows about it?Our area MLS uses Supra lockboxes for a reason, and I'm not taking any chances these days. Once the original BPOs are completed and Contractor estimates received, I will usually re-code the combo box, move it to another area of the property, and place a Supra lockbox on the property. This satisfies both the client's requirements and my own. (I also started putting lights on timers, which I periodically change) Sure, someone will usually find a way to break into any property if they really want to -- it just won't be from a passed-down combo code.
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REO Party Place

So last night (Friday, mind you), I'm working on my ad for the DSNews REO RedBook (hey, I noticed a couple of big producer REO agents have hads in the current RedBook, I figured what the heck, give it a shot), and I get a phone call. It's the cops. Yay.It turns out that one of my REOs - the one that's got two red tags on it for illegal improvements, located right across the street from the neighborhood mini mart/beer outlet - the property was the scene of (apparently) a post-Graduation party.Some local youths had broken into the house (again, it's happened a couple of times before) and had gotten kind of wild in there, drinking beer and breaking windows. Yay. So, the cops wanted me to come down and secure the property (as best I could, with broken windows) and take down the case number.Good times, good times. I gotta head out over that way this morning to get a signature on a CFK agreement, I'll go back and check it out again this morning to see if any of the msicreants returned to further tarnish this gem. All in a day's work.
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A few weeks ago, we had some guy come to our regular office meeting to do a presentation about something. He trotted out a list of the top 10 surnames of new home buyers in California. One of my colleagues made a wry comment that that list of names probably looks a lot like the list of surnames of the folks who are presently losing their houses to foreclosure.I am getting ready to go to that "invitation only" REO seminar in Las Vegas next week (I didn't get invited, but I asked if I could go, and they said sure, no problem). I thought I'd prepare a little packet of info for any asset managers I might stumble upon while there, and for this packet, I thought it would be interesting to include the Top 10 Surnames on the NOD list of the primary counties where I work. I'll share them here with you:Top 10 Surnames - May 2008, Notices of DefaultSanta Cruz County----------------------------------------LopezRamirezJimenezGonzalezSantosSanchezRiveraMartinezHernandezGerbodeSan Benito County----------------------------------------GarciaRochaMartinezLopezTorresRamirezHernandezGonzalezGomezEspinozaMonterey County----------------------------------------RamirezGarciaSanchezMendozaHernandezRodriguezMartinezGonzalezRiosPerezNow why did I go through the trouble to compile this list? Because I'm fluent in Spanish. I think that in this market, in this particular market segment, the ability to speak the primary (and in many cases, sole) language of the people you're dealing with is an important skill to have. I hope the asset managers I come across will think so as well!
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New Property Assignment in Salinas

I got a new property assignment today, way out in Salinas. Naturally, I had to rush right out and do an occupancy check. I've never had a property assignment that far out before, it's a good 45 minute drive from my office. Salinas is a town that has been very, very hard hit by foreclosures, and property values have been crushed. This particular house is a single-family attached residence, in a neighborhood that seems nice enough.The house had been listed for much of the year as a short sale for $469,000 or so. There was an abandoned "for sale" sign still on the property, and a notice that it had been winterized. I talked to the neighbor lady, she was nice enough, and said that the former occupants had moved out back in January.Tomorrow, I'll go back there with my locksmith. I told him hey, I can just find one in Salinas, it's a long way to drive to make $120 or whatever, but he said no no, happy to make the trip, blah blah - I guess he doesn't want to risk one of his best customers finding another locksmith...after all, Salinas is not very far from Watsonville, where most of my business is.It turns out, this place probably isn't going to sell for more than $200,000. I'll probably recommend listing it for $175,000 - I dunno, I have to do the BPO first. Ahh, BPOs. Love 'em. LOVE 'EM. Not. But now, I have to do one chop-chop, as it is due momentarily.
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Getting the ball rolling

Hi,I'm Seb Frey - the Real Estate Guy. Catchy, huh? :) I have a couple of blogs that I already maintain - one at my main web site, SantaCruzHomeBroker.com - the other is on ActiveRain, which I don't really post on too often - mostly, I just put my REO listings on there.I don't talk too much about the REO side of my business on my own blog on my main site. I kind of want that blog to be a general-purpose real estate blog for buyers and sellers. I do mention REOs and foreclosures and short sales quite a bit on that blog, but mostly in passing.I think it will be nice to have a 3rd blog set up which I can write just about the REO part of my business - which at this point is about 80% of what I am doing, and the other 20% seems to be working with buyers on short sales and REOs, since that's where the best deals are to be had these days, for the most part.I think I'll just use this as a space to kind of write about the ins and outs of my business, so you can see what kind of issues come up and how I handle them. Please, tell me what I'm doing wrong. :)Today, I got a new property assignment from my favorite A#1 client, PAS (Premiere Asset Services, the REO arm of Wells Fargo). It was for a house out in Aptos - in a pretty nice older subdivision. Unfortunately, this part of the subdivision is a bit close to the freeway so you get some road noise, but hey, how often do you come across an REO property that's really just perfect in every way?The property had recently been on the market, but was just withdrawn 2 days ago. It hadn't been marked as vacant, so I figured I would find someone home. I printed out a copy of the Affordable Housing Guide for Santa Cruz County, which lists a bunch of local government agencies that help people find affordable housing - not like this house was cheap, it had been bought a couple of years ago for around $900,000 (can you say "top of the market"?). The guide also has legal resources - so people can learn their rights as someone who's been foreclosed on and is facing eviction, and it also contains contact information for transitional housing and shelters, for people who have kids, for example, and are freaked out that they'll literally be put on the streets, which isn't quite the case.Nice enough house, the landscaping overgrown, of course. I knocked on the door, a ferocious sounding dog barked in reply, after a minute or so the door was opened by a big tall guy, clearly not the Mary who was listed as the owner.Turns out, it was her grown son, late 20's, I'd say. Apparently, mom had fled the scene, leaving him with the house. "She told me she worked something out with her old Realtor where I could stay here through the summer," he told me. Yeah, right. I told him I didn't know anything about that, but in any event, I'd be negotiating a cash for keys deal with him, and how soon could he be out?We'll see how it goes. That's the most interesting thing that happened in an otherwise slow news day - lots of phone calls, lots of administrativa for the dozen or so escrows I have going now. I'll write again soon.
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About 5 years ago I was contacted by an AM company to list an REO property. This was during a time when there were not many REO properties on the market in my area. I was unfamiliar with how to market such a property as this was my 1st REO. I was asked to re-key the house and put it in the MLS to sell. I went out to take a look at the house and had no idea of what I was getting myself into. As I opened the front door the stench was so strong, it smelled like something or someone was dead in that house. I took only a few steps in then bolted out the front door. I stood on the front lawn with the grass up to my knees and looked at the house and asked myself. Do I really want to put my sign in the front yard of this house? After a few minutes of fresh air I covered my face and re-entered the house. The house was in bad shape. In my opinion there was no value in the house. The house was not livable. There where big holes in the floors from termite damage and a hole in the roof. I contacted the AM Manager and suggested they get it appraised right away and that there was probably no value in the house and it should be torn down. Here is where I leaned how to sell my 1st REO property. I contacted a builder in town who was buying properties and tearing down old homes and rebuilding affordable housing. He told me he was interested and wanted to buy it, he asked me to drop off a contract and he would sign it and get it back to me. In the mean time the property was appraised and there was no value in the house and the Bank would sell it for the value of the land. After waiting 2 weeks and several calls later to the builder he decided he was not going to purchase the property. I called the AM manage and asked if I could buy it for the value of the land (the appraisal) they said yes. They wanted it sold. I purchased the property for $9,000 and sold it in less than a week. I put a small ad in the newspaper that read “Investor Alert” Free 3 Bedroom 1 Bath house with the purchase of lot for $26,000 cash only. Open for inspection Monday 11:00 – 1:00PM and gave the address. I emailed invitations to my list of investors. That Monday about 12 investors showed up all at the same time. Before the open house was over I had sold the property. We wrote up the contract and closed before the end of that month. I purchased the property myself and sold it for a profit in less than 30 days. Oh by the way, I never did have to put my sign out and I can say I buy ugly houses.Donna Whitacre
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Vacant or Occupant

So I got assigned a pre-listing where I needed to verify occupany within 24 hrs. I arrive at the property and peeking into the windows I see no furniture, no personal belongings (couches were already outside) and I even asked the neighbors if anybody lived in the property. All indications that the property was left vacant. I slap my lockbox and order my rekey and confirm with the AM system that we're a go with the status. I make it a habit to leave the occupancy letter just incase. Low and behold I get a call the next morning from the owner of the house and he was inquiring about the letter! I explained to him that he no longer owns the property and the bank has hired me to sell the property. Naturally he insists that its still his property, the bank never sent any kind of warnings. I had to call off the remaining tasks and revert to a occupied status. The AM was not happy, and of course now I need to assist with the evict. Who has this happen to? I assume we can make these mistakes with all the assets we need to followup on. I'd like to hear some stories. Did you not know it was occupied and rekey a home? Did the AM give you negative scores for giving the wrong info? Inquiring minds want to know...
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How important is it that you belong to a REO organization or have a REO Designation (which have started popping up the last 2 years)? Is there a clear cut answer? I have talked to many people over the years about this. I have attended the Five Star Conference the last 3 years and I have been a member of the NRBA (National REO Broker's Association) for probably 7 to 9 years (not sure). The question you have to ask yourself, is what or how do they benefit you. I have found that the number one thing that they provide to you - is NETWORKING with other Realtors, Asset Managers, and industry representatives. You can not attend one of these groups annual meetings and not learn something that benefits you in your day to day operations. Their monthly newsletters and magazines are full of information that can and will benefit anyone in real estate. I have not personally worked toward any REO designations, but do feel that it would be a benefit to any Realtor (as long as the designations are offered by a reputable organization).
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The Spring REO Market Here Is Booming

Buyers need to jump off the fence now if they're going to snag the best deal!Yesterday I received a call from an Agent who wanted to show one of my REO Listings. He hadn't shown it yet...he wanted to be sure it was still fully available. According to this Agent, almost every Bank-owned listing that he has called on to set appointments already has contracts.WOW!Come to think of it, the last 2 REO Listings I sold each had multiple offers...In Northern Virginia, it looks like the Spring market is in full swing. I just did a search in our MLS...In Loudoun County, approximately 47% of all Bank-owned properties listed in our MLS are currently Under Contract.In Fairfax County, approximately 43% of the Bank-owned properties are listed Under Contract.Yes, there are so many great properties still available for the savvy Buyers -- but these days they'll need to act fast!!What's your spring market like??
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Here's a question for all the realtors out there: Have you had a deal lately that went to a loan officer, and the deal falls into a black hole, and 45-60 days later you're still trying to figure out what happened?It's all too common in this market. Three years ago, the industry had what I call "Pulse Loans"...in other words, if you had a pulse, you were approved. And this secondary-market environment led to a dumbing-down of the lending industry. You didn't have to know much to get someone into a house, so more and more people got into the business with no education, no training, and no financial knowledge whatsoever.What I am seeing now is that a lot of the inexperienced loan officers are trying to portray themselves FHA experts after only having attended a 3-day training...or worse, none at all. The same is largely true for short sales and REO transactions. There are subtleties and nuances to these deals that, if not known, can kill your deal as a realtor, and cost you your commission check!If I were a realtor, I would absolutely be seeing the value in this market of having a PARTNER to rely on for all my deals...someone proven with a reputation, knowledge-base, and experience to ge tmy deals through to the closing table.The next two years are going to continue to be a weeding-out process of part-time realtors, part-time loan officers, and part-time title companies. The key to not losing your commission to a mistake by a rookie or part-timer is to find someone you can trust your business to...to TRULY partner with...to grow your businesses together over the next 5 to 10 years, and have long-term accountability with each other.Personally, when I meet a new realtor and discuss a partnership, I have a system that I go through to line our business models up side by side, and see if it makes sense to work together. Too many people in our industries are so desperate that they will work with anyone anytime. But the fact of teh matter is this: the more selective you are, and the more control you have over each transaction, the greater the percentage of your deals that close, and the more you get cross-selled by those business partners. And the end result of being more selective? Your business GROWS.If you would like more information on how to select a business parter, or if you would like to talk with me specifically about looking into a partnership, please don't hesitate to contact me. My goal in this market is to help as many serious, solid realtors as possible to grow their business!
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www.NRBA.com or National REO Brokers’ Association of America is a new site to me. I just came across it from a fellow REO Broker who gave NRBA some high marks. I have to be honest, when first viewing the website, it didn’t instill any confidence at all. It appeared to me as if they were some awkward knock off of Shop at Home.com. All those little boxes, solid white background, red writing, I swear I thought I was about to buy a gold electro plated magnetized wrist joint amplifier for 3 easy payments of only 19.99. Either way, I am glad to see they are “renovating” the site, hopefully it helps. Once I got passed the strange exterior, I decided to dig a bit deeper and see what this site is all about so, I did what any red or blue (depending on what part of the country your from) blooded REO Broker would do and that was click on “Real Estate Professionals Start Here”. Ok, I may have been a bit hard on NRBA in paragraph 1 of this commentary however, now I am truly being as serious as I can be. After clicking the link, I am taken to a black background with red and white writing power point flash presentation of how I can make 6 figures by becoming a member of NRBA! By this time, I am now truly turned off, to me, this whole thing has come off as a rainy day garage sale on the wrong side of town. Truly, I tell you, this whole website has just come off as if they went into Goodwill and asked the marketing person to design a website. So, 2nd class…… (by the way, I like Goodwill, when I was kid, it was the only place we shopped, we didn’t have much back then. In fact, sometimes I still go, now it’s a bit different obviously but, I do like the store and donate maybe once or twice a year.) As I suspected, it was fairly predictable where this screen shot presentation was leading, I was asked the 20,000.00 question, “Join Now!” My first thought was, are they serious? Then I quickly realized, oh hell yeah they are serious…….lol. So I pressed the button, not because I was impressed by the presentation or marketing ploy but, because my REOPro Agent colleague gave this group of people a huge thumbs up and said I should join. Once you hit the button, you’re taken to a 2nd screen where you can read some of the FAQ’s, it’s small so you have to be determined to look for them but, you can find them and read them over. The first question is, “Can anyone be a REO Broker?” ultimately the answer was No! but, not for the obvious reasons like, commitment, dedication, work load, long hours, etc….., they said it was because they all wanted to protect their 6+ figure income. ROFLMAO! Are you serious, by now I really felt this was an exercise in the absurd but, I went along with it. After reading over all the FAQ’s I felt as if I had just finished reading a bad version of the Top 10 List with David Letterman. Granted, I found some useful information like cost, which my REOPro Agent Colleague forgot to mention but, overall the FAQ’s almost seemed a waste of web space and band width. Speaking of cost, it isn’t cheap, it’s 1999.00 a year paid monthly or annually. That wasn’t cheap for me, I am a bit of a tight ass hence, I still visit Goodwill occasionally however, I didn’t think 1999.00 wasn’t going to be a cost that many Realtors would be interested in paying in the first place, I am sure it’s going to protect some bodies 6+ figure income. I read a little further because I still had this overwhelming almost nagging voice of my REOPro colleague saying, “you should try it, I did and it is working for me” screatch across my forehead like a Mack truck applying the brakes on a downhill 9% grade highway. So, I got ready to hit the Join Now button and, then BANG! A flash of lightning hits my neighbors tree and we loose power. Ok, I will be honest, no flash of lightning however, I did loose my power because my dog’s tail wagged and somehow turned off the power strip. So, here I am now, not sure if I should join or not, I don’t really know much about this organization other than what my REOPro colleague said about it. I figure I should get some more insight so, if you are a NRBA member or a holder of the CREO Designation they offer please, leave a comment and convince me either way, should I join, or should I steer clear! Thanks in advance for the help!
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It's not a myth, You are graded!!

Did you know you are graded on everything you do with an AM? You are graded on the quality of your BPO, the time it took you to turn it in, the pictures (following specific instruction) and if it is complete.Your REO listing is graded on all of your tasks and by each AM you come in contact with. So basically you are under a microscope the minute your profile is even viewed. Crazy huh?? I am always wondering what my grade is and I try to beat around the bush to find out what it is and they NEVER tell me. I am still getting assignments so I guess I am doing something right. Another blogger (JESSE) posted that AM's are looking for a 95% grade or higher to continue sending you REO listings. I thought....Wow an A!! I was always a B student so an A feels pretty good. I guess I should have applied myself a little more. Then I think...naaaahhhh I would probably still be where I am now in RE doing BPO's and getting REO listings. I think those A's would have been nice but THESE A's really mean something!!Point of my blog is don't be a B student. BPO mills probably don't grade but the companies that solicit for REO's should have top priority and you should put in that extra effort. Cause if you don't.....I WILL!!
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Blog?? Why??

I recently was asked why do I blog and isn't time consuming?? It took me bit to come up with the answer but it went something like this:Importance of blogging.........Blogging help raise your google/yahoo ranking for free. Good blogs with tags and links and widgets that are linked deep into your website help create a web crawl. Once the web crawl locates the content it has to go back out thru every page of your site. I am working on that right now. Also it is educational. Not only for other people but for yourself. Time consuming??? You bet, but how else can you be a pro without just blowing pro smoke?? People in my city see my name (since I don't just work with REO's and they call me) Crazy since I look so young and I am kinda spacey but.....I do know my stuff!! Blogging also helps you find out about other things you might not have found otherwise.My site and my biz are important and blogging helps me to be more innovative then other agents and help me to stand out!! Everybody and their mom is a Realtor or reo agent. What is going to set you apart from everybody else??I left the part out that I really really like it and it is fun for me. You know I have been an AR member since the beginning. I think I was the 180 person to join. Maybe a little more maybe a little less. I was a member when AR was a totally different platform. I didn't really know what to make of it till recently when I found out what a innovative tool it was and how it could really help me. And help me it has.....Now I am a member of REOpro and I am stoked to have a place for my niche to learn and grow.
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Awesome Free Map / Route Tool

There will not be much argument from just about anyone that Google has developed some awesome free products that make the life of a real estate agents life a lot easier. On top of making so much available for free, they allow others to go ahead and enhance and customize their applications.This is such a tool.It starts with the basic Google Maps that I am sure most who read this currently use in their lives – one way or another.The company that built this free tool is Virtuoo who promotes on their website “Stuff for Realtors!” Looking around, it appears they earn their money with some pretty nice Virtual Tours.They have developed and give away for free a “Efficient Route Calculator” that allows you to enter up to 10 random addresses before you hit the ‘Submit’ button, conveniently located right below the addresses. How simple is that?The program then opens up a new page and in just a few short moments a fully expandable standard Google Map shows up, with both the Hybrid and Satellite option. The good news is all of your locations are there and mapped out – round trip!What is nice is you can even add another destination – I have not had to use this feature, but my guess is you could add an indefinite number of locations to your route.EASY DIRECTIONSBelow the map is a section they call “Computed Data”. It starts with the round trip duration and length of your trip, if you were to drive straight through. This alone makes the program worth what you paid for it. Wait a minute, it’s FREE!!! This feature makes it worth a fortune when you are doing your taxes!!!Then in Google Map familiar fashion, you are given turn by turn directions starting with your start point continuing to each location on your route, in the most efficient route. Of course, the distance on each road is included, so you have an idea how far you must go before the next turn.NOT PERFECTJust like everything else in life, this tool is not perfect – but it really does a great job working for me.First, I prefer the Firefox for my Internet Browser and when I print the highlighted line that represents my route does not print. I understand it works best with Opera web browser and works OK with both Safari and Internet Explorer.I wish I could right click and save the map as an image, but it won’t allow that. Too bad. However, I do save each map, on a daily basis, as a web page – when I go to the FILE pull down menu and select SAVE PAGE AS (Control S) and choose the ‘Web Page, complete” option to a folder I call Daily Trips in MY DOCUMENTS. I then have a folder for each month and simply name the file the current date.What’s nice is I can go in and amend routes after I have traveled them, documenting my mileage. You know for those unexpected trips to Office Depot or something that takes you an extra 5 miles out of your way – we need to account for that mileage.There are more notes that you can follow from links at the very bottom of the page, where there has been some trouble shooting discussions taking place – but for me, the only flaw is printing with Firefox. Truth be told, as long as the icons of my route destinations show up with the turn-by-turn directions, I’m a happy camper.There is also code available to add this to your website and allowing you to create a default starting position. I get in trouble when I mess with code, so I’ll just use it the way it’s published, thank you very much. (It would be a nice widget to have in my blog though, wouldn’t it?)HOW CAN THIS BENEFIT YOU?As an REO real estate agent, I see multiple uses for this program. The obvious is to take a buyer out and show several properties with a nice clean route already determined.The tool is also very helpful for managing my inspections of my REO properties, since they are scattered in a 20 mile radius I create a new list adding the property each time I have a new assignment, in a particular area. This way at $4.25 for a gallon of gas I can maximize my driving efficiency and not letting a property slip through the cracks, when I’m in the neighborhood. It also allows me to provide the same information to my contractor, so I can accurately monitor his mileage. (We have to constantly keep costs in line, don’t we?)Another use is with BPO’s. Comps are always close by and when I have the opportunity, I like to check out as many as I can. So, when I am researching a BPO, I will add the addresses of the Subject and the Comps to the grid. This way if I need a picture, I know exactly where I am going – but it really is helpful when it lets me physically check out a comp – after all, I may have a buyer if it is that good a deal.So, how can you use this to make your life as an REO Agent easier? Please go ahead and leave your comments below.John Occhi, REO REALTOR®Century 21 Crest – CrestREOJohn Occhi is a REO REALTOR® thatspecializes in the sale of bankowned homes in the Inland Empireregion of Southern California. Hehas helped many buyers acquiregreat deals on these REO homes.His company, CrestREO, the REODivision of Century 21 Crest – the77th largest C21 in the Nation, hasSold Over $1Billion in REO Sales.

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Is the Housing Crisis Over?

OK, this may be a little optimistic, but the Wall Street Journal recently published an article with the same headlineYou can check it out here.Go ahead and read it - and them please leave you thoughts below as to how this relates to the REO market in your area....John Occhi, REO REALTOR®Century 21 Crest – CrestREOJohn Occhi is a REO REALTOR® thatspecializes in the sale of bankowned homes in the Inland Empireregion of Southern California. Hehas helped many buyers acquiregreat deals on these REO homes.His company, CrestREO, the REODivision of Century 21 Crest – the77th largest C21 in the Nation, hasSold Over $1Billion in REO Sales.

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REOPro – How Can We All Benefit?

REOPRO is a new site that is focused on REO Agent education. At the time of this writing, there are about 150 members. From a very rough review of the site, my guess is about half of us have little or no REO experience and want to break into the niche du jour while the other half has been doing this long enough to think they know what they are doing. I like to think I fall into the later category.As with any new site, our success depends on one another. I hope that we do not fall into two different camps – those in the know and those wanting to know. We are all here, I assume, to grow and better perfect our trade.MY METHOD - BLOGA method that I have been very successful with in my own personal growth is to teach. When I teach, I am forced to research and know the answers before I share them. Now, I don’t teach in a traditional classroom or even with traditional students. Rather I write.That’s right, I will find a topic of interest to me – typically one that I know enough about to be dangerous – but not an expert. What usually prompts me is I question something that I think I know, but am not sure of. So, I research and I document my research. Other times, I write about my experiences as I go through a certain aspect of my business / life.If you are a seasoned REO Agent, then you have something to share. I know you are busy, but this is an effort that will come back and reward you many times over – if you do it right.If you were to Google my name, you’d find that I have over 400 articles published – most on my primary blog – HemetRealEstateBlog.Com. I do have 4 or 5 other blogs that I write to on occasion, plus I am a guest author on another handful of blogs. When you Google me, make sure you check out Video as a search option and you’ll find that I have nearly 200 videos published as well – all of them from the very early days of video on the internet – March to June 2006. I quit, because I was not satisfied with my editing capabilities and I thought I looked goofy. However, there is not a month that goes by when I still don’t receive a phone call or email asking a specific question about the content of one of my videos.I share this because a public forum like REOPro can give you instant credibility and it helps everyone else who participates.MAKE THE MOST OF REOPRONow, this is a site that is dedicated to REO real estate and not all aspects of real estate. So, I for one truly hope that we will not see a bunch of articles that are off topic – you know what I mean…no one cares bout new home sales, FSBO’s, or any other real estate topic that cannot be tied to REO’s.OK, so if you are new, what can you write about? Well that’s easy…document your journey. Write a diary of what you go through to build your business. When you see something that someone in your market is doing good, let us know…then again if you see something that someone in your agent is doing that gives REO’s a bad name, let us know that too.Being new to the niche will mean you have the most questions. Instead of asking the same questions over and over again in different blogs, why not turn your question into your won blog post and solicit help from readers. I would suggest a format where you ask the question and give your best idea of what the answer is – and ask for clarification and further input.GOOGLE AND SEOBy generating your own blog, you are now generating your own credibility – both here in the REOPro community as well as in your own market. The good news, the more article that are written the more Google and the other search engines will respect this site and give us higher search engines in our own market. I’ll add some article here about blogging and the search engines – but believe me when I say, the more the merrier for everyone.The second step you can take to make REOPro a more productive networking platform is to add comments to others blogs. If you read something that makes sense to you – or maybe it doesn’t….leave a comment for the author. As a blog writer I can tell you that comments on my blog validate me which encourage me to write more. Maybe you missed Stacie Cunninghams blog article about me - well, I've got to tell you it motivated me to start contributing here.Way to network Stacie!Another task you can take on yourself is to invite others to REOPro - remember, the Team spirit - Together Everyone Achieves More!Finally, the way I see it, REOPro is so new that we are on the ground floor. This can get as big and as important in our industry as we make it. Can you imagine the clout the agents who started NRBA or REOMAC have in those organizations today?So, to all of those REO REALTORS and those who want to be, welcome to this site and I hope you will make it your own.John Occhi, REO REALTOR®Century 21 Crest – CrestREOJohn Occhi is a REO REALTOR® thatspecializes in the sale of bankowned homes in the Inland Empireregion of Southern California. Hehas helped many buyers acquiregreat deals on these REO homes.His company, CrestREO, the REODivision of Century 21 Crest – the77th largest C21 in the Nation, hasSold Over $1Billion in REO Sales.

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