REO and short sale listings are 9% of the active listings in my market and growing by the day. They present a wonderful opportunity for buyers to get a home at a great price in many instances, especially REO listings (aka: foreclosed or bank owned).
Getting numerous REO listings would be great, but I've noticed that many lenders already have their go-to agents. In my market most of the agents who have a large number of REO listings have been in the biz a long time and have well-established relationships with the lenders and asset managers who are meting out these listings.
How can a relatively new agent get into the REO market? Here are two ways:
- Beg, no just kidding. I had a phone call from an asset manager looking for an experienced REO agent in my market. I had never listed an REO and I wanted the listing, so I shared the listing with an experienced REO agent in my office. The asset manager was fine with that. What does he care? He got 2 heads for the price of one. The other agent is happy to share REO listings because of the amount of work and out of pocket expense involved. We sold the listing quickly and I how have REO experience.
Based on this experience, if you are a new agent, I would not hesitate to ask an experienced REO agent if they would consider sharing a listing. It never hurts to ask and they may be happy to have someone share the burden. - The second way to get in on the REO market is to find buyers for the listings. Since the bulk of my business has been working with buyers, this seems pretty natural to me.
First thing to do, make your clients and prospective buyers aware of the REO's in your market. One great way to do this is to email your clients a monthly market report with a summary of your market conditions and add a link to the REO listings in your market. This market report establishes you as an expert in your market and gives you a good reason to email your clients the listings.
Everytime I email a market report with a link to something particular on my website, such as REO's or custom home listings, my website traffic goes way up and I get calls. Of course you can only do this if you have the listings on your website (that is your homework assignment for today).
I have started emailing my clients whenever I add two new REO or short sale listings to my website, or if the current listings have a price reduction. This keeps my clients informed and continues to give me expert status on my market conditions.
I'm still working on getting asset managers to list with me, but in the mean time, I plan on selling as many REO listings as I can. My buyer's are looking for deals and REO listings are some of the best priced listings in my market.
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Good luck breaking into this club. Isn't even a possibility in my area. 2 agents seem to have most of my area sewn up, and sewn up tight too. No one can compete with the rediculous terms they do these for. I have done them in the past and they really are a pain sometimes, but right now- it's probably the best business to be in.
My broker used to be a member of tbe National REO Brokers Assoc., nrba.com, and you'll find that most of the agents in your area that have that segment of the market closed off are members. If I recall, they only allow a certain number of agents per area.
Good luck with all of that.
Hi Fran: Personally, I think it's a lot more work to list an REO than to represent a buyer. More rewarding to represent buyers, too. But some agents in my office have broken into REO listings because that's all that is out there for them right now. Who wants to take an overpriced listing from a seller who isn't motivated? REOs are the natural direction.
I will have to look at these sites with more detailed eyes. There are alot of benefits I may be missing out on. I don't mind the hard work.