One order should only take you five minutes. I'll take a dollar a min.

If you do a high volume of BPOs, you know it never works out that way. There are always issues; I don't know what they will be but I am sure these type of orders will have some quirky issue that gets them sent back by QC. I remember thinking, "$50 bucks isn't bad you go drive , photograph and give a value on a property." Then I started to discover the problems that come up...the house doesn't have a number on it, the street sign is missing, your GPS can't find the address....so on. so on.....These "easy" orders may indeed turn out to be quick and easy. But maybe not. It is a further attempt by these companies to squeeze more and more out of field agents and pay less and less. People.....please don't sell your skills for a nickel!

I can do these sitting at a stop light, for gosh sakes. Send me as many as my little computer screen can hold, please.

And no, I'm not desperate either - just savvy.

By the time I hit submit on this post I could have had one completed and almost enough to buy a pack of cigarettes.

Don't worry, barb. Obama's gonna give Dayton some of that free health care.

you'll can have mine. they want to steal access to what I pay big bucks for: license fees, MLS fees, local board fees, state fees, national Realtor fees...etc . From these responses, people are more desparate than I thought.

Here's a quote from their site: ". . . we can instantly give you the answers you need . . ."

BPO

Imagine the lack of innovation once government controls everything? I especially look forward to the gray, high rise apartments we will be living in once the Socialists take over.

Cabbage is a bit gassy I hope its rice and mill worms instead.

The industry has gone from 6% commission to $5 orders!

You don't see appraisers bowing down to do this?

If you had 100 per day you could make a minimal amount of money to survive.

If you had 50 per day you couldn't survive.

If you had 100 per day and sometimes 5 per day you would not survive.

If you had 100 per day and started counting on that volume you would have all your eggs in one basket. You would need to turn down some other better paying jobs to be able to complete all the work. You then may or may not survive, depending on if they continued the program.

My advice would be to accept a few when you have the time and keep doing what you are doing now to make ends meet.

I personally would never rely on one company, not even the former CW and they are as good as it gets.

100 x $5 x 5 =$2500 a week or over $10k a month...that is more than 75% of American Families make..barely get by?

50 x $5 x 5=$1500 a week ---min wage is not even $300...
average American makes $25-30k a year or less than $600 a week...
so again--if they cannot survive on $1500 a week--how can they raise kids, pay rent, buy food, pay for health care and so on with $600?
God Bless America?
I do not know how they do either--even though I have...
But now when i tough it out--I have t-bones on the grill instead of hot dogs..
trust me---i know what is like to be broke---and i did not like it..
that is why i work till 4 am 7 days a week!
peace!
now lets pound out some $5 bpos and be darn thankful!

My Goodness...These posts! Come on...We are suppose to be professional here. Is this a network for Realtors? Between discussing sitting at a desk all day doing $5 orders like a $10/hr cubical worker and politics ?

Cat- I don't see anybody being defensive. Some will take a 5 buck order, others wont. As I sit here and type I could be doing a 5 dollar order as opposed to playing? I could also be mopping my kitchen, i'll do that later though. Do I have better things to do than a five dollar order? Not really, I am playing on the internet for free. By now I could have made 15-20 bucks.

If I felt like I was being taken advantage of or felt offended by the fee, I would simply not accept them.

I made a deal with my wife years ago, she wanted a house, I wanted a condo. So she mows the lawn I take care of the floors inside. It works for us.

For those of you under 35 we had no computers, cell phones, email, texting and the best video game we had was PONG. The only way we could play it was at a pizza place. We even had to be able to tell time as there were no digital read outs. We had to be able to work out our math problems with a pencil and not a calculator. We could not screen calls, you had to take a chance that the person calling was someone you wanted to speak with. We actually rented our home phones from AT&T and had to pick them up from a local AT&T office or provider. We wore short shorts that will come back in style, beleive me. Hairy chests were IN and will be again. There was no MTV and we bought albums, not CD's. there were no DVD's not even VHS or Betamax. The wealthiest had an 8MM camera, a polaroid, a push mower and one black and white TV that had no stations available after 10PM and would not show a man and a woman in bed together unless their feet were touching the floor. Of course you would not see that, but it is true. I will admit that some parents have exagerrated things because not many of us walked uphill to school both ways, with no shoes in the snow.

Im just a bit over 35. I remember though when we had to get a push button phone via ATT. It cost more to have push button. Mom refused to pay the fee to we had to use the pulse mode on the phone. I was just thinking the other other day about when I was a kid most channels cut off at 1am; the National Anthem would play then it would go to scribble. Just like Polergeist.

Do you remember how we would all be upset because the president was on TV. To all you babies there was only like 3 channels-ABC,
CBS, and NBC. If the president was on, he was on all 3 at the same time. Okay, I admit it...I AM over 35.

I remember when the signs at McDonalds stated -

"Over 100 served"

You are old!

What a strange turn this thread had taken. I like it!

Do any of you ole timers remember the first TV remote controls that really made loud clicks instead of infrared used today.

If I spelled infrared wrong..........sorry.

infared?

In for fred?

Do any of you ole timers remember the first TV remote controls that really made loud clicks instead of infrared used today.

If I spelled infrared wrong..........sorry.

infared?

In for fred?

Cat man, I agree with a few things and disagree with others. The first and only thing I will mention on this thread is that appraisers have caved in BIG TIME to keep busy.

I started appraising 18 years ago for $300 per appraisal. After 15 years I started making $375 per appraisal. Since May 1st 2009 and the HVCC and all the underbidding going on with the AMC's it's hard to get work for more than $200. Many appraisers have started doing appraisals for $150 which is not possible in my world to make a living (6 hours each). I actually make more doing BPO's than appraisals now. Even BPO's have not gone up in price in over 15 years, if anything they have gone down. I started out by making $50 each with simple forms and assigned the BPO unless I turned it down. Now you have to accept a BPO assignment within 3 seconds or lose it with many of the companies wanting 3 page forms for $35-$45 each.

I am starting to think I made a bad decision 18 years ago when my instructor kept telling me how great it was to sit on the beach and "handwrite his appraisals everyday". That really makes me reflect on the past, so here goes.

Some fun side notes !!!!

For those of you under 35 we had no computers, cell phones, email, texting and the best video game we had was PONG. The only way we could play it was at a pizza place. We even had to be able to tell time as there were no digital read outs. We had to be able to work out our math problems with a pencil and not a calculator. We could not screen calls, you had to take a chance that the person calling was someone you wanted to speak with. We actually rented our home phones from AT&T and had to pick them up from a local AT&T office or provider. We wore short shorts that will come back in style, beleive me. Hairy chests were IN and will be again. There was no MTV and we bought albums, not CD's. there were no DVD's not even VHS or Betamax. The wealthiest had an 8MM camera, a polaroid, a push mower and one black and white TV that had no stations available after 10PM and would not show a man and a woman in bed together unless their feet were touching the floor. Of course you would not see that, but it is true. I will admit that some parents have exagerrated things because not many of us walked uphill to school both ways, with no shoes in the snow.

[Buyers are still charged $350 to $400 for an appraisal in my market? who is skimming off the top?

I spoke to an appraiser/agent on Thursday about this. She told me she is not renewing her appraisal license because of the declining fees. She also mentioned she received a call for a full appraisal on a purchase last week and was offered $125 to complete it.