Agents who do REO business are not long time successful residential agents in this market. They are people that we agents are not used to working with and they are unknown to us. Why isn't the business given to the BEST agents in the area, who know the values best?
We have seen a couple of these types of messages on this board already. "How come I don't get REO's?", "These agents don't call us back", "I have been in this market forever" etc, etc. No offense Sharon, but I will put my knowledge of property valuation, knowledge of the various geographies I am in and my ability to effectively market the assets up against anyone. I am sure you are a wonderful residential agent, but selling distressed assets is like night vs. day compared to selling the home of John and Sally Smith, not better or worse just an entirely different business that most (not all) traditional residential agents are not prepared to do. My partner/Wife and I are the top agents in our brokerage of over 3000 agents...I would say we are very well known.
In my market I see a mix of very good REO agents and some that, should I say operate differently than a traditional Realtor. There is equally a lot of work in listing any home, an reo asset or not. I think that if an agent accepts a large # of listings any type, they need to be able to handle them, hire an assistant, but return your calls to move these properties. Our own "code of ethics" requires us to promote real estate growth.
The author isnt attacking every REO agent, but if you work both sides of a transaction you are bound to run into the type of agents she is speaking of, this is cyclical, once we see a balanced market, those agents wont make it. As an agent its hard to accept short tempers, unreturned phone calls,lack of mls information and any other sign of an unprofessional, so if professionalism is lacking its up to me to fill in the gaps, for now anyway.
It would appear you are making the assumption that an REO agent does not know values. I would say most retail agents, however, are likely to occupy this realm. Take in consideration I complete several hundred BPOs every year and they must be adjusted for more than GLA, amenities and appeal. I must be prepared to consider repairs, functional utility, is it better to sell as is or have it repaired and the list goes on, but my time is limited. Other issues many agents would not like and/or be able to do are, monthly reports (a mini CMA to see if price adjust is needed), surprise calls from the AM to see what you are doing to market the asset, face to face evictions, having the utilities for several houses in their name or paying five digit ($10,000 and up) repairs upfront and wait for reimbursement, being followed for a few miles by angry soon to be ex-owners, threatened or finding one of your listings has squatters that scary does not properly define and after having the home cleaned and repaired, the listing gets pulled and reassigned. Now if that does sound appealing, start by doing several BPOs per day and you will eventually get your chance. Oops, before I forget I am known in my market and very successful!
What is the definition of BEST Agent? REO business seems easy but its not. There are lot of hard work behind the scene. As CFLREO mentioned doing tons of BPOs where not all agents prefer to do that kind of work because they pay only $40-$75 per BPO.
Most of the BEST Agents don't even know how REO works.
Comments
The author isnt attacking every REO agent, but if you work both sides of a transaction you are bound to run into the type of agents she is speaking of, this is cyclical, once we see a balanced market, those agents wont make it. As an agent its hard to accept short tempers, unreturned phone calls,lack of mls information and any other sign of an unprofessional, so if professionalism is lacking its up to me to fill in the gaps, for now anyway.
Beyond that have a great day and good business
Most of the BEST Agents don't even know how REO works.