Starting March 1st, my inbox has been swamped with "great deals" and "limited time offers" from all the companies/ platforms I am signed up with. (res.net, LRES, Dispo, etc...)
It would appear they are hurtin'....they have litle or no work to send me but they want me to pay for an upgrade or banner ad.

It's your money and they want it NOW. LOL

My fav was the guy from LAMCO...he asked me "do you want to take a chance and hurt your business by not being on our preferred list, blah, blagh, blah..."

I liked working with Lamco when it was free but it's not worth it anymore. I made a promise to myself to NEVER fall for the "preferred vendor" line a long time ago and am happy about my decision, considering the complaints I've heard.

Linda

Hi MArealtor- I can't speak for other companies, but I can for RES.NET.

We occasionally send out promos to our members to thank them for being a part of our community. We also send out information to help them increase their visibility to asset managers (which includes the banner ads you mentioned). This in no way means we're "hurtin'", just that we value our members, and want to provide them with the best service possible.

With that in mind, as I've said before in the resnet thread, we do not send you listings. It is the asset management companies that send you listings. So the more visible you are to them, and/or the better the relationship you have with them, the better the chance is they'll send you listings.

Hope that helps!

-Pauline

Have you no heart? You won't donate money that you're HOARDING to hungry corporations that are suffering in the recession?

Anyone that accepts work for Old Republic and is closely approaching their expiration date on that vendor manager thing, don't renew. Mine expired about a month ago and I continue to get orders from Old Republic. Vendor manager has threatened to tell ORT and EP that I'm no longer active and what not but I'm still getting orders.

From my little corner of the world it LOOKS like agents are refusing OR orders, and orders from others. They keep making the rounds for a couple of days, and I've been observing the phenomenon for several months. I know some REO listing agents are still doing BPOs, but certainly not as many. And my 2nd opinion BPOs aren't getting done by the usual REO listing agents. I think mostly they've stopped b/c the fees are too low even with staff hired to help out. I know I stopped over a year ago except for companies generally known to give listings. I'm also seeing requests from companies I never worked with-- maybe their traditional agent pool has evaporated?

Pauline-

Res.net is exactly one of the companies I am talking about. The banner ads, the "AMP" upgrade..... Its all tchotchke. (look the word up, pronounced "C-h-a-c-h-ki")

Doesn't "tchotchke" mean junk that you really don't need? Stuff you bought that you can't really use and just sits around collecting dust?

In the age of the web, its virtual junk I don't need.

Virtual Junk-- good one!

LRES just hit me up for money. Something about a preferred list. I guess business is slow for them.

[quote=DueDiligence][quote=MArealtor][quote=RESNET_AMP]Hi MArealtor- I can't speak for other companies, but I can for RES.NET.

We occasionally send out promos to our members to thank them for being a part of our community. We also send out information to help them increase their visibility to asset managers (which includes the banner ads you mentioned). This in no way means we're "hurtin'", just that we value our members, and want to provide them with the best service possible.

With that in mind, as I've said before in the resnet thread, we do not send you listings. It is the asset management companies that send you listings. So the more visible you are to them, and/or the better the relationship you have with them, the better the chance is they'll send you listings.

Hope that helps!

-Pauline [/quote]


Pauline-

Res.net is exactly one of the companies I am talking about. The banner ads, the "AMP" upgrade..... Its all tchotchke. (look the word up, pronounced "C-h-a-c-h-ki") [/quote]

Doesn't "tchotchke" mean junk that you really don't need? Stuff you bought that you can't really use and just sits around collecting dust? [/quote]




Actually, it means ornaments and trinkets and the like, but I guess for most of us, those are the things that are sitting around collecting dust. ;)

But as for our banner ads and AMP upgrade, those are tools we've created that help our members to gain greater visibility to asset managers.

However, we completely understand that some of the tools we offer do not fit into the business plan of some of our members, and if you'd like to stop receiving these emails, just PM me your email address and I'll make sure you get taken off the mailing list.

Hope you all had a great weekend! :)

-Pauline

Pauline,
Respectfully speaking, how it sounds is throw Res a few bucks and get in front of asset managers, AM's are on here and what are they going to think??? Lets find our agent on res?? Why would they since any schmuck can sign up??
Just trying to make good point and glad you are on here and taking question's. Hope you have a great week and can't wait for your reply. I do use the res system and over all its a nice system, I will not pay anyone that promises possible listing's, my hard work has lead to many referall's from AM to AM, I did over $5,000,000 in REO sales last year and ok with that. I think am's are onto all this BS and use there private lists and share with other AM's for the most part.

"use their own private lists".......that makes sense. And how do we pay for it? By completing assignments? That can't be right....that's too old school.......lol.....great post.

Candyman,
You've been around the block? You use a good vendor don't you keep them on your good list? I have vendors labelled as A B C D and DNU (do not use). Don't you think asset managers do as well?

It's been that way as long as I can remember. With all the "pay to play" companies out there, I've never seen any posts in this forum that were positive. With BPO and listing fees dropping, why would one even consider spending their hard earned money? Maybe they're under ths assumption that "one is born every minute".

Good point.

While I think it is thoughtful of Pauline to post here, I would have to ask her how she equates 'thanking' Realtors her company values to inviting them to buy something?

To me, 'thank you' has traditionally been something given or done for someone for free, rather than an attempt to get the recipient to part with cash. Call me cynical, but I don't see gratitude in her explanation, I see a profit motive. There's nothing wrong with selling services, but it would be unwise to assume that the saavy bpo agents on this forum would buy having it gift wrapped as as a service provided to us.

Good morning!

Right away I’ll apologize for the long comment, but I want to make sure I can give the best explanation possible.

Hey FLREOTEAM! Thanks so much for your comment. I totally understand where you’re coming from, and hopefully I can answer in a way that makes sense. And if it doesn’t make sense, let me know and I’ll try again. ;)

RES.NET doesn’t promise listings as we’re not the ones who assign the listings. Those listings come from the AMs. And because of that, like you’ve mentioned, business tends to come from AMs that you have worked with previously and have developed a relationship with.

What RES.NET has developed, is a way for AMs to find agents in areas where they may not have an agent already chosen. A lot of times they go into an area, and their typical list of agents do not serve that area, or, like many of our AMs, they don’t even have a set list of agents, so they use the system to find one that is an expert in that area. So yes, any “schmuck” can sign up for RES.NET, but AMs still do their research to find those that have the strongest skills. By buying our membership levels, you have the opportunity to showcase yourself for the AM. You can show them where you work, your certifications, your websites, your recommendations, etc. So AMs will compare you and your qualifications against those agents that have only their name in our system, and you’ll definitely stand out more. Again, this isn’t a guarantee you’ll get chosen, but it’s the opportunity to be seen where you may not necessarily have been seen without RES.NET.

Also too, remember, the membership fees aren’t just to get your name in front of AMs. They also give you access to free training courses, free mobile apps, free certifications, excellent customer support, etc.


Hi Realtors Rule! I apologize that I wasn’t clear in my previous posts. When I was talking about “thanking” our members, I was referring to our current promotion we have going on (which I’m sure was one of the emails that MArealtor was talking about when starting this thread). This promotion does not ask our members to buy ANYTHING. All it asks is that they have some fun, hunt for clovers in their AMP, and then send in the locations for a chance to win some great prizes. You don’t have to buy a thing to participate in this, as even those who have our free Standard membership can play. So again, I apologize, as I was thinking about this when writing my response, but didn’t specify that.

I hope you all have a great day!

-Pauline

Whats the contest? I noticed this on several pages of my account. Don't remember getting an email on what is being offered and what to email or to who.

Hi MontyC21! The contest is a Find the Clovers hunt. You can check out our Facebook for all the details/rules/etc, but basically what it is, is that we have hidden clovers throughout AMP, and once you find them, enter their locations on official form (just PM me your email address and I'll send it to you). All correct entries will be entered into drawings for the prizes associated with each clover.

Maybe I'll win one of those stress balls.

I'm thinking of buying one just so I guarantee I'll have one. ;)

Pauline, you may want to find out if that's a RESPA violation. You are associated with an Asset Management company, you can't give gifts to agents, or prizes. As for me, I'm keeping my hard earned money, no more pay for play. No Mas, No More.

Hey Candyman guess we are on the same page lol

RESNET AMP may have honest intentions. I can't make that call. Their biggest problem are all the "scam companies" that were ahead of them. As for AM's using agents that are located near the property..hmmmmm. That statement does confuse me. I couldn't begin to tell you how many out of area agents have listings in our area.......try 100 to 150 miles from their office. I'm sure they know my area as well as I know theirs... lol. I assume it's no big deal to leave $20,000 to $50,000 on the table. I guess you can look at the bright side. They got it sold in 5 days......I wonder why?

As for the "pay to play" program, I'll pass. I think what bothers me the most are that some of our members only source of income are BPO's. That's what's been feeding their families and keeping a roof over their heads. To spend $200 to $500 in hopes of snagging a listing makes no sense and not worth the risk. RESNET may be the real deal....who knows?....I just choose not to be the test canary.

Hey sacbroker - Thanks for looking out for us! We already looked into this before starting this promotion, and it isn't a RESPA violation.

-Pauline

RES.net is selling bells and whistles. People, save you money.