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

LOL! That is was funny....

Well as long as I can keep my BPO's going maybe I can afford the permit to drink the water;)

Just make sure you are READY for the costs of living increase you will get hit with in California.California is NOTHING like Ga when it comes to costs of living.Ga has one of the best costs of living in the nation.

I have just known alot of people that went there and came crawling back on there knees saying the cost to live was very high and that there were always parking issues and you had to worry about getting towed or getting parking tickets all the time.I have persnoally never lived there this is just what I was told by frineds that tried it and moved back.

Well the cost of living in Georgia has definitely continued to raise lately, but it seems like we're still under the mindset that things are still significantly cheaper out there. But I heard the same thing too, and I did some research and have set up a budget that I am hoping will not be too conservative. Have you seen the rents lately in the metro Atlanta area, they are close to becoming comparable to the rents from what I've seen. I've seen two bedrooms downtown for $1,500 - $1,600 easy and they're getting it.

But I appreciate the heads up. I pray my hustle is aggressive enough that I don't ever come crawling back on my knees, that sounds painful

Good luck and welcome... I am sure we'll be bumping into each other sooner or later. (I'm in Carlsbad). And I am sure you will do just fine, as long as you are willing to go back to basics for a while until you get your new client base developed again. Like I said before, it's REALLY competitive here, but most of the Realtors are pretty nice and the weather is GREAT. Your biggest challenge might be "staying away from the beaches so you can get work done!" I't 70 degrees today and full sun! Too bad I have a final walk-thru and BPOs. Would be a terrific day for golf. Oh yea, did I mention that we have great golf courses too?

I think I'm gonna like Southern Cal, if everyone's anything like the people here, I think I'll be just fine.

Thank you all for being so kind.

so cal isnt big enough for the two of us...so get lost....



















ps. jk.... : )

i did undergrad in sd,....sd is amazing and filled with awesome people and the best weather

Please let me squeeze in, I'll take the scraps. Please....

I'm from San Diego too. Located in Chula Vista. As people have stated- there are a few big players- then everyone else. Most are pretty nice. I don't know about the best weather- it's normally nice. The weather seems to be changing though- its been cold.. Yeah yeah -I know not cold like other places, but 35-40 is cold when you are used to 67-73.. No sandals or open toe shoes lately- my feet get cold.. Good luck and welcome!

Gosh what I wouldn't give for 35-40! its -15 below out this morning! ughh I don't know why I live in MN I HATE winter!.Good luck though Queen,I couldn't imagine trying to move my business right now!

Well the more I read the more I can't wait to get there, look forward to doing business with all of you in the area

Do you already have your license? If so we can talk when you get out here (or before). We have about 35 REO listings in San Diego right now and we are getting a ton of sign calls that my agents are having a tough time handling. We are in the central San Diego area about 15 north of Downtown San Diego.

I am PMing you right now...