I just got a call from an agent to do a BPO on one of my short sale listings.
Problem is I have worked with her before and she values SUPER high. For example she just valued one of my properties at 115, killing the sale and now I cant even get anyone in the door at 85. I cant even find her in my mls so I don't think shes even close to local.
Anyway I tried talking to the servicer to get someone else...they can't do it. Investor call or so they say. Anyway is there some way I can just get it reassigned by not getting back to her in a certain amount of time or something?

You can contact the investor and give them your concerns regarding the agent.

Trying to hold her off won't work because that will mean that the mill she's doing it for will just tell the client and that will reflect poorly on you.

The only other option is a less savory one. Send the scariest person in appearence you know to meet her at the property...Preferably someone with terrible hygine and a comb over if possible and hope that she is so uncomfortable she'll ask on her own to get the order reassigned....

J~

If it is an interior - you could always make the property unavailable - not to be party to sneakiness - maybe the key could disappear - or you could go over and if its vacant - make it smell funny. Its really tough dealing with agents that are out of area and clueless. The problem is if the interior doesn't get done - your short sale is done for sure. Maybe she has taken a "bpo ceritification" course and has seen the light.

You are hired to do a service. The BPO agent is hired to do a service. If you as the contact/LA decided not to get back to me for access, I would simply report back to my client that the contact agent refuses to give me access. It generally does not get reassigned from the BPO stand point, just extended until they have a talk with the LA.

The only other option is a less savory one. Send the scariest person in appearence you know to meet her at the property...Preferably someone with terrible hygine and a comb over if possible and hope that she is so uncomfortable she'll ask on her own to get the order reassigned....

Thats good. Make sure he greets her at the car and says "I've been waiting for you". Make sure he insists that she goes first as "Im a gentle man". He should also mention how good she smells.

Here on North Jersey we have two guys I know that just love to do that. Must of the time I do counter BPOs reflecting that the other BPO person didn't do a good job. Get focus on DOM, proximity and GLA, those are my tricks. I do a lot of those couner BPOs and 90% of the time the servicer accept. Good luck.

[quote=REODayton]
Thats good. Make sure he greets her at the car and says "I've been waiting for you". Make sure he insists that she goes first as "Im a gentle man". He should also mention how good she smells. [/quote]

Thats down right mean, funny as hell but mean, lol.

lol Gets even better if he offers to show her the basement first and sniffs her hair on the way down the stairs.

J~

I saw an adult video that started off this way!

this is true..not proud of it but true.

I was getting my house appraised for a refi years ago and the garage was a total mess. I had relatives moving boxes/ you name it. It looked like a goodwill truck threw up in the garage.

I told the appraiser that there was a snake loose in the garage and I couldn't be held responsible- it's up to her if she really needs to go in there. She passed on going into the garage.

...just sayin.

Actually enumerating ideas on how to make life more difficult for agents performing bpos??? Am I wrong or isn't that US???

Perhaps there is an agent or two out there making life more difficult for listing agents but the scales most surely tip in the direction of listing agents making life more difficult for those of us out there that are just trying to do our jobs (accurately!)

There are some good BPO agents but there are definately also some bad ones...
I dont know if its a matter of not knowing or not caring, but bad BPO agents causes serious repercussions for sellers - especially short sellers.
This particular agent has already done her share of damage to my client. I'd rather not make it two of my clients.
If I can just get her to not come out - the odds are I'll get a better BPO agent.

Well maybe you can do the grown up thing and address your concerns with her about the situation.

I hate being a grownup though... I'd stick with the creep to meet her there :P

J~

Listing agents don't understand that the BPO company tells us what kind of value they are looking for, FMV or REO, distressed, etc. The listing agent of course wants us to use the worst REO comps out there. (This is of course a short sale situation.) When we have valued it the way the mill wants it, then we get to try to explain to the BPO mill QC why our value is higher than the list price.

Maybe it is not the BPO Agent bringing the value in too high as the list agent pricing the property too low??
How many times have I had to comment ~ Subject property listed below the lowest priced sale in the town. Ummmmm?

If you have all of your ducks in a row, you can appeal the value.

Is the BPO agent from out of the area? Does she belong to the local MLS? Is she a Realtor? You can find all of that online.

Do you have other comparables (both sold and active/pending) that support your price? How far away are the comps the other agent used from the subject? Will they order a 2nd BPO from a different mill?

Heck, I've refused interior orders because the listing agent is a PIA. It's a two way street,

I'd rather not have to appeal the value which is why I'd like to see the BPO come in accurate to begin with. I have comps and a solid listing history to support my price. I almost always do. Doesn't mean it always goes my way.
I expect a problem if it has sold it in two days on market at a low price but when I have listed for weeks or months with a history of reasonable price reductions I think thats a pretty good piece of evidence that I am at market and not screaming fire sale or something.
In fact I find that in anticipation of the BPO I frequently overprice a bit to start ( if I have the time) and then reduce simply to be able to prove a point with my listing history and avoid a too high BPO.
I did not realize the servicer asks for the type of value they want. Once I had an agent ask me whether this was a refi, reo or what - I was rather surprised since I though a simple look at the mls would provide the answer or perhaps they should know what
they were dealing with before showing up.
I have had a BPO agent tell me "I have no idea how to value this" and I have heard "what value do you want on this?" so...it's kind of a crapshoot what I end up getting.
Maybe I'm not giving the BPO agents enough credit, maybe I am giving them too much, I dont know.
I just know that when a value is way off it KILLS my sale and it is difficult to get a lender to reevaluate.
I just spent 6 months on getting a servicer to do an interior for a property with no copper and severe interior damage because the servicer would only fork over for a drive by and that value was through the roof.
I dont really blame the BPO agent - they gave what they were asked for, but why a real appraisal is not done is beyond me. Youd think the lenders would pay the extra to get that done right when making a decision that will cost them sometimes hundreds of thousands in losses, but hey - I cant change the servicers. All I can do is work with what they give me.

I have a question actually - when I run comps I like to go 1/2mile out and 3 months back and I would suppose that is what the banks ask for the BPO's.
Some of my areas are not populated enough to satisfy.
When you run into that problem doing BPO's do you prefer to go further out, or further back? I assume further out? Would make more sense to me long as its in the same town and that is what I would do, but curious as to what ends up going back to the lender from the BPO side.

I go up to a mile and back 6 months for all my BPOs. Lately I'm having up to 2 miles though. Especially on the actives. I'm in a largly suburban/rural market though.

As for listings that are lower then market value. It's always the short sales that are lower then market value or REO value. In my area because if a short sale is priced at market or even REO values they won't get looked at.

There are plenty of foreclosures and owner occupied homes to buy and not have to wait 4 months or more.

I just make a comment that the subject is most likely priced below market due to it's short sale status to most likely obtain offers. Works every time.

I have a particular Building Inspector that I like to avoid;

I also have a certain Appraiser that I dread having come out to my Pending Sales;

I think a certain Surveyor has prices that are way out of line for simple sub-divisions;

And then there's a Lender who always screws things up when they try to process a Loan Application; but

The absolute worst is when Buyers choose to use a certain nit-picking Attorney.

I find it hard to believe, but rumor has it that certain other Agents dislike it when I'm the Broker representing a Buyer on their Listings.

That's simply ridiculous!

I just tell them that this is America, and people get to choose who they want. Then I accept what I can't change, and change what I can.

I had 3 instances in the last 1-2 months where I did interiors.
1 was for a neighboring property listed by a neighbor, an interior for someone I know through my son, and a random interior.
1. the neighboring property foreclosed after my bpo.
2. the property of the son's friend's mother foreclosed after my bpo
3. the woman that owned the house of the 3rd called me to tell me immediately after my bpo they said the loan mod was off and they were going to foreclosure and won't speak to her.

EVERY one of these bpo's was done with respect to the market-
respect to all involved. My prices came in lining up with the list prices ( we've had huge declines in prices in recent past )
and these are just 3 that I know of. The loan mod was hundreds of thousands under water and the bpo reflected this with neighboring properties.

I really want to see people get their short sales done and loan mods worked out. My pricing is aggressive to the market place and supported by comps, etc.

I can't help but feel badly that the above and others I don't even know, might think my bpo had something to do with losing their house when I know it didn't.

The bank is dotting I's and crossing T's (imho) to move to the foreclosure they intend on and bpo's are part of it, sooo...

I guess I might find a sleazy guy waiting to let me in, or a loose snake on the property :):) but after finding out about the recent foreclosures and loan mod turn down, immediately after I was sent out to do a bpo- jumping to conclusions about the person doing the bpo might be hasty..unless they told you what the bpo was valued at. I told the people I did the bpo's for I couldn't discuss the pricing with them and to get that info from the bank but I'm starting to regret that stance, especially with the recent happenings..

I think you're wrong on that the banks intend to foreclose anyway..I think they are trying to avoid foreclosure as much as possible nowadays. They really want to do workouts because they are cheaper. Not only do I witness this, but negotiators at banks have confirmed this several times. In fact the last one told me when I was asking for a postponement recently, that the VERY LAST thing they want is to own the property.
I have yet to lose one of mine to a foreclosure, but I do know others where a high BPO has in fact sent a property to foreclosure....despite a workable solution existing if the BPO had been accurate. So it does happen.
I myself have spent months fighting for new BPO's to keep properties from foreclosing.
A bad BPO can surely send a property to foreclosure. Not to imply that you are sending yours to foreclosure - just that it does in fact happen.

I did interior BPO sometime ago and now, owner of that property is telling me that my BPO was too high and his short sale is falling apart. That property was way underpriced, and there was nothing what I was able to help them. Owner is calling me, emailing me and treating me. I believe he even called to RE commission. Please give me your advice

On all three of these properties- the bpo value was in line with the list price/repairs/market and the load mod prop value was hundreds of thousands under loan amount and my bpo reflected.
So I know for a fact , the bpo's and short sale pricing did line up, not a bpo issue BUT my point is, the perception is different. I know they usually order several bpo's but again, these 3 interior bpo's/ values in line/ banks foreclosed after receiving bpo's..??? I live in a small area and I don't want to be perceived as the "angel of death" coming to do a bpo..in fact, I felt good about all 3.. I'm sure there are many banks trying to do the short sale/ loan mod etc. but obviously there are banks that don't and the "perception" the bank puts out is ..we're waiting for the bpo, bpo is in we'll get back to you, file is closed we're foreclosing. Hard for agents and owners not to draw the conclusion, it makes me rethink the " don't disclose value" thing. I know that's a whole can of worms and not thought out, just venting here, but I live in a small community and don't feel like taking the fall for the bank with agents and homeowners.

I have not had too many problems getting the agent to give me the value amount or finagling it out of someone at the lender.Or at least a range.
Lately some lenders have been more secretive though and others more upfront. Not sure what the goal of the secrecy is. Seems to me it serves no good purpose of keeping it secret. Its a value detrmined by another realtor like me. Should be the same as mine. Why hide it?

Minna- I have always honored the not disclosing value, since it seems to be the mill request. I figured it had more to do with them getting paid for the report, etc. In my case I hope the bpo value WAS disclosed to these parties by the bank.

If hired by a mill the agent should not disclose the value directly to the LA. Majority of clients I have worked with have this guideline set in place. Giving an LA the value is left up to the discrection of the client. It's to protect all parties. There's nothing worse than an irrate owner calling the BPO agent and screaming at them because they think the value is wrong (or an irrate LA for that matter). Working through the lender as the POC for that information keeps everything neutral.

J~

J- I agree. I've always held to that. This recent run of foreclosures after interior bpo's does put a spin on it.

Because I'm familiar with the list price/ pending price of 2 of the 3 scenarios, the bpo value should have helped the deal fly because there wasn't conflict in the pricing...just the backlash of the job. I can't help but feel badly about it. I know it wasn't the bpo value, not sure they do.

The 3rd I referenced was the loan mod who called me up distraught a few days ago because she's disabled and her words" as soon as they got your bpo they told me they were foreclosing"
and wanted the referrals of real estate attorneys, assuring me she wasn't going to sue me..lol...oh man. Anyway, I still didn't tell her what the value was but I did say the REO sale next door to her house was reflective of the market and I thought the bpo done would have helped her if nothing else....I tried to help her googling some info for her since she was so upset...

...maybe hold off on the sleazy guys and snakes till you know for sure..lol

Oh well - why not, Primer to Real Estate 101:

1. What all the three most important factors in real estate?

2. Why would you question this when doing a BPO/CMA?

3. minna, no offense, why should the price you put on a property be superior to the bpo agent's, that does roughly a 100 times the number of bpo that you do?

4. Why be surprised what a bpo agent tells the listing broker? I might tell them anything to make them quit being nosey, invasive, condescending, or superior then thow, so I can get my job done.

5. Someone hires me under my license and I automatically owe them a BOAT LOAD of duties ** exactly the same as a listing or buyer's agent owes their client. It is not difficult to understand. Would a buyer's agent tell the listing agent how much their buyer is willing to pay, or vice versa? Why even attempt to be seen as interfering with the BPO/CMA agent's duties to their client. Stand back, get out of the way, and let them do their job. That would help more then any busybody agent that knows more about what the BPO agent is doing then the BPO agent.

6. As long as what my employer asks me to do is legal and ethical, I intend to do it. If I feel I can't do it - that will be between me and the employer - not any other agent. In the same light, I won't bug a listing agent or needle an other agent into doing something they shouldn't do or say, that is part of my take on professionalism, acting above the crowd no matter how much I would really like to say to that agent

I never said I was superior or that listing agents pricing always is. There are a ton of crap agents out there - listing agents as well as BPO agents.
It comes down to the quality of the agent - and we are not all the same, however the bad BPO agent can cause a lot of harm as to some banks their word may as well be god's word.
Most of the time I do not have a problem with the BPO - but when I do and it is totally out of line it's a big problem for my sellers and can cause months of delays.

I am just trying to avoid a big problems down the line in an already sensitive situation.

Anyway - I did try some of your suggestions - did not work, or perhaps it could have but would have caused a major delay so that agent just did that BPO. She seemed to have it together, but she seemed to last time too. I guess we'll see how it goes.

Did you go in for the hair sniff?

Weird post..had to read it. I never get called by the LA so I suppose they do not have a problem when I put "list price is out of line with current market" when my estimate of value is a lot more than the list price. I always wondered what happens when I do that. Some of these LA's on Short Sales really have a sense of humour. Is that why I now see a lot of "no name RE co's" as listing agents on Short Sales.

REO- I guess I'm just not that scary...lol

smiling jack- Do you do that by driving by and picking a number out of thin air, or do you actually take a trip in, and consider condition and current local solds too?

BTW - Seems my BPO went just fine. Right in line with my sales price. So alls well that ends well.

See - I was right -

I'm glad it went well, that you are no longer trying to 'avoid' the bpo agent, and hopefully have a better opinion about the agent and bpo brokers and agents - hopefully.

Now let us know when you close.

Minna; They make me take a picture to insure I was there; if I am lucky, I take 2 or 3 for the next time. Seriously, I don't think many of us make up these numbers and it has to jive with the comps or QC will question it without knowing the circumstances and then I have to explain it. But it does aggravate me when I see a listing that is ill priced from a BPO standpoint and I know some bank person is relying on my estimate of FMV to make a decision. It is easier to price the property adequately and reduce the price (we can see it) until you get an offer that the bank can accept than worry about who is going to do the BPO on it. I get weird stuff from LA's when I get an interior and have to notify them of my arrival. Where do they get the time?

Pine - I try to have faith...and the majority make me believe they are professionals. However there is a good 30%?? That dont have a clue and really make things diffcult hence the reason I have to go...see what I'm dealing with...do what I can to make it right. I dont want to have to do that...trust me - I really dont have the time to attend every BPO...but I feel I have to babysit sometimes.

jack - as long as time allows ( ie the foreclosure sale is not next week ) I will price high and reduce in chunks as I anticipate it helps my BPO once I have a buyer.

I wish I didn't have to play these games and that everyone can just be trusted to do their job effectively and come up with "true value" ...but that is just not always the case.

minna - I was only thinking about the 'particular BPO agent' for the most part, but what I said applies elsewhere as well.

Hang around and we'll help you learn how to become a good REO, BPO and Short Sales agent -

::::biting hand::::

Silly - try a bowl of popcorn - unsalted with no butter. It may not taste as good but it ends up hurting less.;)

What would make you need to bite the hand that feeds you? - lol

No really.

I have no desire to be an REO agent - after being a short sale agent exclusively for the past year almost...I despise banks for the most part - no interest in working for them....dont get me started... I am an excellent short sale agent and I always strive to improve as such.....BPO agent - not on my list either...But I really appreciate the insight from all of you. Great to see how the other side sees it.

hehe - I was yanking your chain - just a little.

But now you can spread the word that this segment, often misunderstood and maligned, does indeed have integrity.

...and the choir said... AMEN

I can see it. I would probably naturally gravitate to this forum entitled BPO, REO, Foreclosures if I felt that way too.

I get this kind of reaction every once in a while.

To paraphrase PT Barnum:

You can please all of the people some of the time or some of the people all of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time.