As I journey through the learning curve on short sales, REO listings and all other things bank owned, I have entered the world of the BPO.
A BPO, broker price opinion, is a market analysis for a commercial institution, usually a lender. Very often, but not always, the BPO subject is in danger of foreclosure.
Usually the BPO is a drive-by which requires a photo of the front of the house, an address verification photo and a shot of the street view. These pictures are attached to a report that typically involves 3 comparable listings and 3 comparable sales in the area. There is no set fee for this service, but in my experience the range of pay is $35-60.
Sometimes the company will need a full interior BPO, which requires making an appointment with either the homeowner or the caretaker of the property….not an easy task under most circumstances. I have found the payment for these goes from $80-115.
Typically I do the drive-by BPO’s which can be turned around fairly quickly (house is in my target market, etc). Most often I am able to quickly obtain the photos I need without being seen. Sometimes, however, there is a very awkward conversation as the homeowner inquires why I am taking pictures of their home.
I am never comfortable with this because the truthful answer, “I was assigned by a company to take pictures as part of a report to gauge the value of this property”, sounds vague. They always ask me for more information, which I really do not have. The institutions do not share with me why they are requesting this report.
Through the course of the last year I have gone back and forth with the return of investment (my time) for these BPO’s. Just as I got really involved the government stopped the foreclosure process for homes…only over the last few weeks have the BPO orders started back on the increase. I have yet to get a listing from my efforts, which was the main reason I started doing the reports.
I am interested in hearing from others with experience in BPO’s. Please take the very brief poll below:
