REO CERTIFICATION AND TITLES

[Cindy Billman, CDPE]

I decided to pull some statistics out of curiosity. NRBA is probably one of the most prestigious and most recognized of all realtor organizations and they have a designation called CREO (Certified REO) that, I believe, cost members about $300 to take the course and get their CREO designation. Currently, NRBA has 1,039 agents throughout the country and guess what? Out of 1,039 agents only 63 have their CREO designation! Wow, by my calculations that is about 6% of their members! I do not mean to be negative, just being cautious. I was surprised and a little disappointed by these numbers. The NRBA has been around since 1998 and I remember how everyone was a little cautious of them at first. But, considering the number of licensed agents (and yes, they do have an approval process) they have a small membership. So, I did some more digging and discovered that many top REO agents do not have any designations/certifications/titles. Of course, by now, they are fully ingrained as REO agents and do not need these designations.

And one more bid of information, I sent out a blast email to many asset managers, VP's, SVP's directly to the banks/mortgage companies and the ones who responded were unanimous in saying that designations/certs/titles mean absolutely nothing compared to your perfomance as an REO agent.

With that said, I, for one, am no longer going to "contribute" my hard earned money to companies that want to charge for you to join in order to get REO listings. It is still going to take hard work, patience and a long term commitment in the "waiting game". My best contacts, so far, have been through networking and this has been a fantastic site to do just that. However, on the positive side, if you need the training because you are not that familiar with the REO process, then I would encourage you to take courses that would help you with a career in REO. Remember, REO is a 24/7 job, vacations are almost nil and void unless you have a highly dependable person to cover for you or take your laptop and blackberry wherever you go! And don't forget the expense, can you front $15k to $40k for repairs/maintenance/utilities and then wait 90 to 180 days for reimbursement? Before doling out the money, do some serious soul-searching, is REO really for you?

[Van M. Agakanian]

I for one had to invest $$ in training courses to get familiar with the mechanics of running an REO shop, eventhough I listed and sold REOs moons ago... Back then, it was nothing like it is now - A single page BPO and you were assured of the listing. For starters, RDCPro, RES.NET and REOTrans will suffice.

[Byron Guillermo]

My RDC Pro certification is due next month and I don't know if do I have to renew and take the same courses. I took those courses for IMB, but since they have a new owner OWB, I don't know if my certification obtained last year will still get me business. Anybody, else experiencing the same situation here?

[Cindy Billman, CDPE]

OK all - as a former, longtime AM - the biggest beef AM's have with agents, especially agents that they have not used before is the FAILURE to read instructions!! If you read carefully all of the instructions it will tell you what to do. I can't count the number of times we would get a phone call asking a question when all the agent had to do was READ! And before you submit that final contract to the AM for signature, please read it and make sure that everything was what was agreed to - AM's do not have the time to read the entire contract - we basically scan it because the agent should be the one to catch any errors. I.E., The company I worked for NEVER paid the survey - this was countered out via REOTrans but when I got the original contract, I quickly scanned over it, signed it and sent it back. At closing I found out we had been charged $500 for a survey, because my agent, who is my eyes and ears, let me down. At that time, my portfoilo consisted of approx 200 files in 8 states and everyone has a different contract. And DO NOT send a contract that has slash marks thru it with initials - make it a nice, clean contract to what was the final agreement and please let it be typed! You would be surprised at the brownie points you can score with the AM by doing these simple little things.

[Matt Nemeth]

I couldn't agree more. As it is important to belong to the two major platforms (Res.Net & ReoTrans), it does not guarantee that business will fall into your lap. It's about aggressively marketing your services & building lasting relationships.

[Rick O'Connor]

Thank you Cindy for sharing. Those are amazing numbers. All goes back to relationships, doing a good job and customer service.

[Rose Mencia]

I agree- Ive paid out more membership fee's than I care to recall.... Lots of $$... in the end,my most successfull relationships came from breaking in the hard way----- wait in line for a chance and do it WELL!! Not easy, but effective!!

[Debbie Osborne, NRBA]

I would think since you have been on both sides of the desk you should have a VERY good understanding of what we as REO agents need and don't need. It looks like the band wagon is filling up with groups that want to help us get more business ! I agree we need to stop giving our hard earned money away with a promise of more business from some of the groups that in the long run are just helping themselves get richer. Education will always help you grow, and you can help yourself!

[Chris Oliver]

Very well put. I know that to be sucessful you have to have a well-rounded approach: cultivate asset managers and don't be shy about asking for listings and names and numbers. Do a few favors and you'd be surprised at how you may be rewarded. That being said though, if you don't know the process and mess up by missing timelines, exceeding guidelines, or ignoring simple rules like you must have commitment letter-POF- you will surely loose what you have worked hard to cultivate. Once you get on someones 'do not call' list in this business it's almost impossible to get back off. In this market it is very easy for an agent to see an REO agent doing well and think ' Well I'm gonna get me some of that business' . It is easier said than done though and it is easier to get it than to keep it if you don't cross all your t's and dot the i's. Good luck to all.

[Carlos H. Silva Sr.]

Yes, REO is a very demanding and tough job! Agents definitely need to do some serious thinking before jumping in with both feet. Ideally it would be best to have the relationship with an asset manager prior to taking the courses and making the necessary investments. Unfortunately, that is not how it usually plays out.

[Cindy Billman, CDPE]

Yes, I was an AM for 13 years and a Loss Mit Negotiator for 2 years.