I want to break in to REO listings without doing BPO's all the time, to me it just is not worth it, I did one once and cannot believe some people basically do that as their primary source of income... to each their own but I'd rather be working with renters if I don't have anything else to do. I hear about agents that do them for years and never get a listing -- one REO agent I just met said she did them for 7 years before she started getting listings. Is there a better way? Should I go to Iraq get wounded, establish dual citizenship, pick up a boyfriend, and come back and try to get a Fannie or Freddie deal as a GLBT, service disabled veteran, minority owned enterprise? Okay, maybe that's not a better way than BPO's..

It's close...

Here's the thing, why would a bank hire you if you don't know the ONE skill that got you in front of them? That's valuing a property which is what we do when we do a bpo. I've done thousands and yes did them for years. But the thing is...my clients are STILL making me pay for training and classes on guess what..VALUING property aka bpo's!

Maybe back before the bust you could network your way into a VP's office and get listings with a small credit union or bank. No more...but feel free to try. But you better be able to tell them how much it's worth and be spot on.

You're about 4 years too late and on top of that you don't want to pay your dues. Good luck.

Well, if all I do is BPO's I won't have any time to prospect, then what if I do that for 5 years and still have not broke it... seems like too big of a gamble to me. How much money will I make if all I do is BPO's.. $50 - $60k per year gross? And at that rate I won't have enough in the bank to service a large number of listings if I would get a major break.. I will definitely do the BPO's for listings, take classes... all I am saying is it seems like the majority of REO agents say the way to break in is do nothing but BPO's and pray.. I'm asking if there is a better way. Maybe I'm just missing the right companies, the only one's that have contacted me offered $40-$50.. for $75 or more I'd consider it worth it.. but not $40..

That train left a LOOOOOOOOOOONNG time ago.

In your situation really you would do best to work for a REO king/queen for your area.They handle the listings and have buyer agents field all the buyer calls that come in.

It will be tougher to get on with them as REO volume has gone down with bank assignments.

Some parts of the country really do not have many short sales or reo's and the markets are stabilized so you need to look at data and stats before putting any energy into something.

Look at WHAT IS SELLING in your area and target that niche.

I would not want to spend efforts getting into REO now. It is brutal, the pay is terrible, the requirements are elaborate. Success requires you to have a diverse cardeck of clients.

Lastly the trend is toward recovery and that may be a couple of years away, but that will mean any inroads you succeed in making will dry up as the economy improves and real estate values stabilize and/or rise some.

If you are still interested then attend a couple of conferences like REOMAC or 5 Star. There you can develop a road map.

Try opening a new hamburger place next to McDonalds you might have a better shot.

Sounds like doom and gloom doesn't it. Is it possible? Yes. Is it probable. Probably not.

I have mentioned before that the best thing I can think to do is go to your local S&Ls and smaller local banks that still keep them in house.

Build a resume with those and then use that to go after larger customers. By the way the larger companies pay less and expect more than the locals do.

I have often said REO with the larger companies is 4X the work for 1/4th the pay. We also often have many thousands of dollars (of our money) out awaiting reimbursement that if we mess up on the paperwork will be denied. We also consider ourselves to be blessed to have the work. Not complaining just trying to be real.

It will NOT be easy. However, it is not impossible. There is always blue sky above the clouds.

Best Wishes and Good luck.

skip the Iraq trip...I think...find a rich boyfriend...is your best bet...

No here's what you do. Find a rich boyfriend who is also a REO king. (Is there such a thing these days?) :-)

Well, we have an REO king here but you'd have to bump off his wife. Or convince him to be your Sugar Daddy on the side.

If you are earning pretty good money doing "regular" real estate work to be bothered with BPOs why do you want to get into the REO world and deal with all of what was said above in Grampa's post?

DC...you are in the ONE market in the whole country that has seen an upswing in value and sales...the market is HOT! Why don't you make yourself an expert on the foreclosures that are listed, market yourself as an expert on the buy side. Hey...another benefit of doing bpo's..hmmmmm...market knowledge, they pay you, you get more experience...sounds win, win to me!

I have done BPO's for years but never have to break in to any of my REO's. I just call the locksmith to do the rekey and move on! Seriously, if you really want to get into REO work you need to pay your dues. Spend some time working for low pay. Crawl around in dirty homes for an interior BPO that will now pay you a whopping $55 or so and then another agent gets the listing. Work for Ocwen and learn that language so they can offer you a fee of $40 and then pay you $39 so they can save money on the direct deposit. Deal with the crazy QC requests from many of the vendors.Then after all of that you need to start signing up with the REO companies that will hire you for the riches that you have been told about.

Or an "Uncle". A quick story from when I first started on the REO road of life.

My Grandmas sister died after a long fight with cancer. Aunt Mick was 92 when she died, I probely met 5 times. I drove Grandma to the funeral home for the viewing and all that stuff. Had to comfort grandma.

The funeral home had a "family lounge", it was basically a room where people could smoke and drink, take a breath from death.

I ran into my uncle in the lounge who was on the board of the local bank who had bought mortgages that needed to be dealt with. We struck a deal at the funeral (pending board approval). That was Friday night, he formed a quarum for Sunday morning, all approved, contract signed, I was good to go. I made alot of money on that funeral and still made Grandma happy.

Look at small town banks, CU's, etc. Network them, you never know what comes out of it.