I am relocating to Southern Cal in a few months and I am not trying to steal anyone's business, but I am coming so my looking for business is inevitable. I am doing pretty good in my area and am wondering what the culture is like out there.

I've read somethings (not on this site, but in other articles) about agents getting listings really far away from their home base, and I was just curious how long some of you have been in the REO business out there, how it has evolved, things to look out for, things to beware of, places to stay away from, how competitive are the REO listings compared to typical resales, etc.....

Where in CA?

*Everyone* in SoCal wants to get into foreclosures right now. I'd guess proximity to listings is likely to be the least of your problems.

IF REO is priced right it wil sell quickly in my market. Some lenders do it right, some don't.

San Diego County

The REOs seem to be driving the prices down on everything else.
And there are a lot of them. California has the most somewhere around 15,000. And they have 539,000 licensed agents.

Lord'veMercy!

That is really a lot of agents for REO's but I'm thinking not all doing REO's? I'm prepared to crawl, before I walk. I have a back up plan until I get my business off and running there. ThankZ! for heads up

Foreclosure Queen... I moved to North San Diego County in 2005. I caught the very tail end of the good market and actually did quite well in '05 but '06-07 was a little rough. Competition is bigger than average here (everyone and their brother has a license). There's at least a dozen REALLY BIG REO agents out here and then a whole bunch of others, but just not as big.

Are you strictly a listing agent or do you like to work buyers too? You might want to consider working the buyer market also until you get your feet planted. So far, that's where the bulk of my buisiness has been since I moved here in 2005. In fact, I'm closing a $3 million "all cash/30day closing" next week... WAHOOOO! The PERFECT buyer from heaven! Dang... if I could get a 1/2 dozen of those kind of buyers a year, I'd never want to see an REO or BPO again in my life!

Foreclosure Queen... forgot to ask you what part of San Diego are you moving to?

This reminds me of the time I gave a bartender my business card. He looked at it and said "Oh, another Realtor. My two brothers are Realtors, my sister is a Realtor, and they wanted me to be one too. But I said no because, IN ORLANDO, EVERY HOUSE HAS A DOG AND A REALTOR!"

That drove it home for me.

That sounds like an awesome deal. I've worked both sides, I started out with buyers and am currently transitioning into an REO listing agent, my business is banking on all of my clients following me when I transfer, if that happens somewhat smoothly, I think I will be okay. I do have a fall back plan in action to give myself about a year to get things going again.

I am looking at the Vista, Oceanside, Carlsbad, San Marcos area. My daughter's a gymnast and there's a gym in the area I've scoped out for her.

You will find plenty of foreclosures in the area. But competition is stiff. Off the top of my head I can name a dozen agents doing REO's within 3 miles of my home office. Most are small, but a couple are huge. And we all cover the full county. ( I am north county inland). So welcome, a little competition is good for us.

I appreciate the welcome, I figured it was pretty aggressive out there, which is amazing to me because everyone appears so laid back and relaxed out there. Must be something in the water, which I can't wait to DRINK!!!

Many of us are not from here originally. My New York attitude still comes through occasionally

Sounds like Atlanta, many people are not from here anymore and there are a lot of different personalities going on. If I have to deal with all the personalities, I'd rather be closer to the water.....

You need a permit to do that.

For the record, water around here etches car windshields if not removed promptly.

Seriously, welcome to Cali, San Diego is a great climate