Had a company call me about a month ago to try to get me to do a BPO for them in a neighborhood I'm familiar with; don't remember the firms name, but they mentioned a $50.00 fee for doing the work. I looked at the phone "like you have got to be kidding me". So pleasantly said sure and took down the info. but threw the paper in the trash.

The compensation versus the expenses incurred for travel and time just did not add up.

So you agreed to do it and then threw the information away? Why didn't you just tell them you didn't want to do it?

Ask yourself this... What is my time & expertise worth per hour? In my book, it's more than $50.00!

Last BPO I did was for $75.00 (mid last year) and it's because I told them not to waste my time for less than that. They were getting a bargain at $75.00!

The rest of my conversation went something like this:

Time & money go hand in hand... if you want a cheap $50.00 BPO, then I'll give you a cheap $50.00 BPO.. comps and no photos.

You are playing a game of who will do it for the fastest and the cheapest. If I had 50 BPO's a week that you would guarantee me, I would negotiate my fee!

I don't sit here in my office hoping that you'll call, as you are the sole source of my income!

They said something about being removed from their list if I did not accept the BPO request. I told them to bother someone else with less to do!

Scott

If it really wasn't worth it to any of us doing them, do you think we would be doing them or there would even be a forum here for discussing them? Just like anything else in real estate- or life for that matter- some are worth it some arent. To accept a BPO and then just throw it away is irresponsible and hurts the reputation of real estate agents. If you don't want to do them, don't accpet them- more for the rest of us. BPO's certainly arent for everyone.

Currently, I have 1 active, and 3 soon to be listed REO properties, that I received directly from performing BPO's. Oh, and just made a house & truck payment w/part of the cash I made in January doing BPO's. So, yeah, it's worth it.

To all those that find worth in them, more power to you. In my situation it's just not worth my time.

To A & M Team: In my book irresponsibilty begins with the devaluing of ones time, knowledge and expereince which is what the lender was doing in my case and does in so many others.

It seems like you just posted to let us all know that you are "above" doing BPO's. For myself, I happen to LIKE doing them and it keeps me up with market value in my area. To each his own.

BUT to purposely accept it when you knew you weren't going to do it?

Whether it's a 15 year old kid just not showing up at his part-time job at McDonalds because he doesn't feel like it - or a real estate "professional" making a committment with no intention of following through....that is just plain irresponsible.

In response to your comment to me-
I have difficulty believing you see nothing wrong with accepting work and then just trashing it. I still hold my ground and call it irresponisible. Im not sure why it bothers you that I found it irresponsible, you seemed proud of it. Simple difference of opinion- it happens. Best of luck in your other endeavors

Yeah you're right, your time is worth far far more than $50.00 an hour... I mean just look at all the value you brought us here in your .25 hour participation in the board. I'm sure you spent the hour you saved by not doing that BPO generating comission income, right?

No, they made you a specific offer of compensation in exchange for completion of a specific task.

If that offer was not sufficient to meet your minimum, the professional response was to simply decline the order. Agreeing to accept an order that you have no intention of fulfilling is called lying.

With your own post(s) you have announced to everyone here that:
1. you don't mind lying.
2. BPO's are beneath you.
3. agents who complete BPOs have allowed others to "devalue" their time, experience, & knowledge.

That about sum it up?

Best of luck to you.

drobin, explain to me how $40-$50/hr working whatever hours of the day you want, only rule is you have to take pictures during daylight and you have a certain amount of days to get the order complete in. Figure 40 hours a week as a normal work week($1600-$2000/wk) or $83,200-$104,000/yr. Take into account that most Realtors that make that doing retail sales actually work 50-60 hours, which will increase that number quite a bit. Not to mention the knowledge you gain from them on the market, the homes you see, etc.

Please explain to me how they are NOT worth it?

Also, expenses for travel? You are driving 20 miles tops, or a whopping 1-2 gallons of gas or $2-$4 in expenses.

With the changing trends is real estate, don't knock the BPO's. The companies might be looking for you now, but one day you might be looking for them. When the market slows, or changes, the same $50.00 you trashed starts to look good,when you're getting more than you can handle per week. It's better than waiting 30 days or more working your a-- off, getting to the table, and the sale fall through. So when it's slows, and we all know it does, unless you're that well off, to answer your question, of course. But it looks like you're burning you bridges before you even start, and that to me is not a good idea.

I stay current on market trends and can assess property values in the general area with detailed accuracy.

If pure greed is your thing though, then BPOs are definately not worth it.