take the listing $$$$$, don't take the listing No $$$$$

If I had taken the listing, I would have made less money than the referral company. I could make the same amount of money doing 10 interior BPOs one weekend without the hassle of CFK, occupancy checks, billing, marketing costs, etc. It didn't seem worth it to me for the commission I was going to get. As such, I declined.

It sounds like you made the right decision for your business. My only concern would be that if I turn down all of the low ones, they won't offer me the high ones. I don't cherry pick, but I've been told that if you do it too often, they will just take you off of their list. I know I've gotten some higher priced listings (for my area) because I was willing to take a low one. In 1 case, I went to an area that I don't normally cover because they didn't have an agent in that area. It was a pain, but the next one I got from them was very close to me, in good shape and sold very quickly.

Of course, it makes a difference whether RE is your career (the one that pays the bills) or something you do on the side/part-time. Each of us has to do what works best for our own situation.

If I'm working with a company I take them all. If I decide to fire a company like I did to GRP then I turn them all down. Of course I'm in a part of the country where even the lowest price 1/1 condo is still at least 150k so the commissions are worth it.

The most important thing is to not start dropping any balls because you have too many listings.

Congrats seasaw on your expanding business. I weigh personal safety above all in considering a new listing. I don't believe that it's dangerous to your REO biz to turn down listings. I have turned down a few because of the level of personal safety risk, and yet I continue to get listings from the same companies.

If you don't yet have a lot of capital or credit built-up, you may not yet feel comfortable hiring a staff to help with work load. Until then, you'll have to find balance and the highest return on time spent until you have the ability to get help. It sounds like you've done that analysis already.

I join you in appreciating the steady, hassle-free cash of simply doing BPOs. That said, homes in my area start at $150k and go way up from there. The commission pay-out is worth taking the listing nearly every time, especially if you can get the asset priced correctly to start. My business plan is to get as many listings as possible and get as many of them as possible into escrow within 90 days. I continue to do as many BPOs as I have time for. The BPOs sharpen my market knowledge and are worth it from that perspective not just the quick cash.

For somebody with not many clients,i would say I would take any which comes my way,and only coming my way are those which REO kings around here rejected.I guess if i had their volume i would too!

Formula!

My formula is, if I accept the bad ones, follow through with the Bank and/or Asset Management Companies requirements, then I have a better chance of receiving the good assets, the ones that will sell quickly, ones that I don't have to change my clothing every time I inspect it, ones that I will not have to spend a fortune marketing.

In the past I have accepted several assets that should have been bulldozed down after several agents had rejected them. I now am the primary listing agent for these companies and have never received another one as bad as that first one.

I have turned one down. It was a 5% total commission, with 3% to the buyer agent, and 2% to the listing agent. I don't mean 2% after the referral; I mean 2% MINUS a referral. And this was a piece of trash house with no minumum commission. They wanted two bids from assorted contractors to bring the property up to "average" condition--work which, of course, they had no intention of ever hiring anyone to do. They just wanted the bids to help establish their loss and the listing price.

The AM assured me that she had several more coming my way. At that commission structure, I did not want her "several more" listings. What it all boiled down to was roughly 1% for me, and I simply cannot manage their properties for that rate. The majority of REOs in my area sell for less than 100K, MUCH less in most cases.

The house in question ended up selling for $21,000 after being listed for several months. My time would be better spent doing the interior BPO and being done with it. The listing agent made a commission, sure. I recently spoke with her about it, and she said that she did not do any of the extra work they asked. She did not turn on utilities or get any of the bids they said they required as a condition for the listing. It appears that her acceptance of the listing put her in better light with the company than I am, even though she did not perform the tasks they assigned.

I guess that's something to think about, but I still believe that we have to draw the line somewhere. They continue to cut our commissions, require us to do more legwork, and now they charge us to process invoices to get our money back that we used to manage their properties.

Seasaw's question, where to draw the line, is a valid one.