FARVV just sent me a exterior for $40 due tomorrow by noon. Does anyone actually accept these? I know I don't. (It was one outsourced from CW)

Nope - not unless it's just a local property inspection. I think it's insulting.

Unless it's towards the end of the month, have the weekend to do it, in a subdivison of tract homes that all look alike within a couple of miles of me, and there are many solds and actives, no comp photos, and three or four days lead time, No.

I usually do $40 exterior BPO if I get at least 4 BPO's from them and within the same city that I reside in. Otherwise NO.

FARVV sent me an interior BPO for $40.00 with a 2 day turnaround. I requested they re-assign this order. I'll award the prize to them!

RRR just sent me a full interior for $40 with a 3 day turnaround. I THINK NOT!!!

LOL... I was trying to be Discrete By not using thier Name in My Post

danni - check your profile with RRReview. You put in what you charge for certain services. Then they choose who to use based on the agent profiles. Does your profile say you will do an interior for $40??

I can't complain. They sent me 5 orders today - one I negotiated my fee with them because it was a rush order and two of the others, they are paying me $10 more than what I said in my profile (I'm not sure why). It seems like they are not outsourcing their reps anymore because they speak clear English. I don't think they are calling from India anymore!

Sorry, my computer was not responding. Duplicate message.

Sorry, my computer was not responding. Duplicate message.

Well i just got my acceptance from farvv,there is no way i would do an exterior for 40 bucks are there forms more detailed than cc or eml?I usualy don't do anything less than 65.00 exterior and if it's a rush i usually get 85 to 100,the only time i take the exterior 50's is if they give me 4 to 5 days and by then i usually have more lined up going that way so it's no big deal.

What does it mean when you say yes or no if you agree to be a point of contact with the homeowner for a bpo.

Makin Money,

your response was to Danni but I'll answer too. I did check my profile with RRR after getting three $40 exteriors. It said $60. The first few they gave me were $60. I accepted them for $40 but ended up making about $10 an hour. Never again. Their forms don't let you go on to the next page (without filling in bogus info). I'm always afraid I'm going to forget that I entered $1 for liens or something else I want to check later. It takes 10 minutes just to Mapquest distances as it doesn't compute automatically.

Ok for $60 - but not for $40. Just my opinion tho.

Well then you probably don't want to work with farvv. My experience with them has been that you get paid $40 or $50 for an exterior and it is due in 1-3 days.

Hi Makin' Money,

Nope my profile doesn't say I will do an interior for $40. I don't know what was up with that order because most times they come thru at what I have in my profile and sometimes higher...which of course is always good!!
What I should have done was call or email and make sure it was not an interior because it was only the next city over from me.

Why would you take time to do that?.....I have never mapped them; if their site doesn't do it automatically I just estimate and then add a note that all distances are estimated. NEVER had one kicked back for that.

East Texas Realtor - Really, you don't map them? A friend of mine says he doesn't either. He just estimates. I use Microsoft Streets and Trips. It's pretty fast. There is a feature to measure actual distance (not driving distance). It only takes me about 5 minutes.

Yeah I used Microsoft too... the old version I had on my old computer was great. My new puter has to have its friggin DVD to work... another "improvement" from Gates & Co.

If you don't have Microsoft Streets and Maps, Google Earth does the same thing, and gives you a sattelite view too. You gotta have a fast connection to use Google earth and avoid the temptation to play with it and get your work done.

Wow! $40. sounds like a fortune compared to the $25. landam sent on the 5th, someone accepted before I could decline it. It was almost walking distance from my house, but no - not gonna sell myself that cheap.

Have a Great Day

Really.....I don't and I won't.

If they don't provide mapping in their system, then they must not think it important.....my estimates will just have to be close enough because I'm not inclined to "volunteer" to do any extra work outside of what is specifically required for a BPO. Again, I do advise somewhere in the BPO that all distances are estimated.

East Texas Realtor - Don't take this wrong, I'm not being disrespectful or stir something up. I think just because they don't do our work for us by figuring distances, doesn't mean it's not important to them. I don't think it's "volunteering" extra work to provide the information they are asking for. It's doing a required part of the job just like every other thing we have to fill in on these forms. Yes, I love when they automatically calculate distances. It does save time but I don't think it's their responsibility to have this automated feature. I think of it more as a bonus or help to us and they are doing us a favor. If you are confident in your estimated distances, than more power to you. I just know myself. I would be terribly inaccurate if I just took a guess. That's just my 2 cents.

Nothing taken wrong, I see your point in wanting to do a good job. This forum is about discussion and different viewpoints should always be welcome here.

I've always estimated distances (been doing this since long before any of this was automated or online) and none of the BPO companies have asked me to do anything else. Couple of other reasons I don't map: most of the mapping software can't find most of my comp addresses in the rural areas where I work; I've been driving these same roadways for almost 20 years now and have a pretty good idea on those distances.

East Texas Realtor...I did think about estimating distances but not sure how accurate I could be.

It must be pretty important to RRR tho. If the comp is too far (in their opinion), I get a message that says something like "you indicated this was a suburban location but indicated the comp is 1 mile away. Please use a closer comp or explain".

That is not verbatim but you get the idea. Odd thing is, I just looked at an old BPO online for them and now there is a little map thingie next to the distances. And it looks like they changed my distances. Is that strange or what!

I just did my first BPO for Rolls Royce Review this morning... no comps within a mile, oops, one just down the street... I wanted better comps, couldn't find them (very large house for the area)

I'll cross my fingers and see what happens.

I'm with you East Tex, If the site doesn't have a Built in Map, I Estimate every time. Two years, never been called on it!

I also estimate on forms that do not have a built-in calculator.

Source One sent me one two days ago that arrived at 8 pm and they wanted it back the next morning at 6 am and only paying $15!
I may have considered it wre there daylight and a but load of extra $$.

Some clients automatically calculate to check your figures as you go. Some fill in for you. Some let you fill in and audit you months later. It took me a long time, but I finally discovered how to pull up a radius map and then click on the subject's location and drag the line to Comp #1, #2, etc. to get the distances. Now that awful job Concepts is referring to takes me just a couple of minutes. BUT not all MLS services offer that, and not all forms calculate automatically, like Concepts says. As far as estimating, in all due respect to my fellow Texan, I'm way to OCD to estimate anything. I guess that's why I won't ever get one of these things done in less than 2 hours.

I am sure these companies don't mean to be insulting to agents--they just offer them based on the rate they receive from their client, and we take or refuse them. If a company uses me regularly and I make money off them all the time, I will not kick back a few low paying jobs that come in occasionally. Keep in mind that I don't drive nearly as far as some of you have to because I'm in a heavily populated area. Ten miles is about it for my range. I have only kicked back three jobs, and that was because I did not feel qualified to do them. Two were commercial properties, and one was a very unusual case.

Anyway, if you don't have to take the job AND you don't want to take the job, just tell them like you have been doing, and they will be happy to reassign them. That way, you are happy and continue to stay with them. There will always be someone to take the lower paying jobs for a variety of reasons.

MyREOGroup,

what you had there, my friend, was a property inspection...I am almost sure. One picture of the front and about 5 questions. Not a valuation, just a status report of sorts. Takes 5 minutes, and they are wonderful if you are going in that direction or it is close by. We had lots of them here after Rita. They were mostly insurance related - did the work all get done - that kind of thing. Check a few out if they are convenient. I love the ones I get, but that's because my area is small.

On second thought, My Reo Group, I just looked at your web site--don't think you need any $15 property inspections. It looks like you are doing okay without them, judging from your client list.

I have never mapquested or otherwise my distances and have successfully completed more than 10,000 bpo's without one question of my distances. Not one.

The key is that the companies want to know the relative distances the comps are from the subject and that they meet some guidelines of their clients, not that the comp is 2.751 miles or 2.874 miles. They want to know that if you say suburban it is not 45 miles away. Most clients want suburban within a mile or so and rural within 5 miles. Here, in Texas, I often go out 50 miles two counties aways for rural comps w/o any question at all.

They want to know that the comps are in the same area as the subject and that the characteristics of the market are similar; that you are comparing apples to apples....and you should be to the best of your ability whether your are estimating or use a software program to determine distances.

Not be critical, but some of you guys are making a BPO into a doctorial dessertation. It is an opinion based on a realtors knowledge of the market's past, current situation, and forcast for the future largely based on opinions of the agent.

Often we have to estimate #beds and #baths as well as many other data and those numbers have a whole lot more effect on the property value than whether the property is 4 miles or 6 miles away.

Give the bank your best effort so that they can rely on you figures for evaluating a loan, droppng pmi, buying a forclosure, etc. But do it within the time constraints that you have. If you are taking a half hour to take the photos, time to get the comps, and a couple of hours inputting the data, you sure are not making much money on a per hour bases after figuring $.60 per mile, self employment tax, income tax, camera cost, etc. etc. etc.

Do quality work, work hard, but work smart.

Call, request more $$ . If you are an agent they have used, they will add on more $$ and are usually willing to give an extra day. They do pay low when you first start, but it starts to get higher and the orders come in more steady. They also pay every month, on time.

Hi Gig'em.

I see you are from Aggieland, I was down there this weekend. What area are you from? I am new to this post and just wanted to say hello to all.

I am new and have been doing work for quite a few companies now, but have never received a property inspection. Do they only send these to certain agent?

I'm doing quite a few Property Inspections (3 photos & 5 questions) for between $15-$20 currently. Massachusetts had extensive flooding 10 days ago, especially along the river 5 miles away. I can usually combine three or four on one photo trip within 2 miles of one another, come home, input my info & be done with it all in an hour's time. I wouldn't accept Property Inspections for so little unless I could combine them and make money. Afterall that's why we're doing these doing this work!

They send me those all the time. I usually call them to extend them if I have other orders in that area. I usually turn down the ones they havev for $20-$30, unless I am already over there and the form is the one sale comp one.

I have one for $50 that I will do in the morning since it is right near my school.

I don't think I've ever gotten an order from them for more than $60, even interiors.