I get this question probably 2-3 times a week if not more. Here is my favorite saying….

“Everyone wants to go to heaven but no one wants to die.”

Everyone wants REO because they think it is a cakewalk and you just sit around waiting for someone to send you tons of listings that you don’t really have to do anything for. I cannot tell you how many times I have sat down with an agent and told them what they need to do, from how to write their resume’s to even giving them lists of companies to apply with. THEY NEVER FOLLOW THROUGH!

So answer these questions and make a note on whether you REALLY want to be an REO agent.

1. Are you willing to work 60-80 hours a week?
2. Are you willing to take a reduced commission of 1.5% to 2.5% and then many times pay a referral fee out of that?
3. Are you willing to be on call anytime an asset manager calls or emails? Even in the evenings and weekends?
4. Are you willing to evict families, disabled people, veterans, tenants, people down on their luck?
5. Are you willing to clean up piles of garbage, clean yards, toilets, repair broken fences, deal with water leaks in the middle of the night during storms?
6. Do you have your crackberry attached to your hip at all times to check email non stop?
7. Do you have a credit line of $50,000 or more? You will need to front expenses for repairs, cash for keys, rekeys, emergency repairs etc.
8. Do you undertand quickbooks and accounting in order to track your expenses and reimbursements?
9. Do you have a sense of urgency? In other words are you prepared to get tasks completed within 24 hours or less?
10. Are you technologically savvy? Can you adapt to a variety of computer programs and systems?
11. Are you willing to travel 6-10 times a year at your own expense to attend REO conferences and seminars? Usual cost is $5,000-$8,000 a pop.
12. Are you a good manager of people and time?
13. Do you have staff available to assist with tasks and duties?
14. Are you willing to put in the time to prospect, call, email, write to generate new business?
15. Are you prepared for the fact that if you make ONE mistake, you can be cut loose and not receive future assignments and you will never know why?
16. Average sales price of an REO is $120,000. Average commission is $2400.00. Do the math and figure out if this is for you.

If you answered yes to all of these questions, then you are prepared to be an REO agent, if not, get out there and do what has always been required and that is prospect, hold open houses, advertise, call your database.

Funny thing about real estate is everyone wants to make all the money but they don’t want to think of it as a job and do what is required to get paid such as having a regular schedule and going above and beyond to get the work done and create advocates for your business.

In 2005 when I saw the market changing, I jumped online and researched what other agents in other areas were doing. The common thread was BPO’s and REO’s. I started doing BPO’s for $50.00 each (now many pay even less) and have done over 5000 of them so far. I started following REO blogs and websites. I went to conferences.

I networked with agents all over the country and lenders that I had met over the years. I spent hours upon hours learning new systems, documents and forms.

Two of the companies I now work for took me a minimum of 2+ years and a ton of persistence to get in with them and at the end of the day it came down to someone I had met an event where I spent more hours networking than sleeping.

Are REO’s still out there? Absolutely but just like weight loss there is NO MAGIC PILL!

Success comes from HARDWORK and PERSISTENCE.

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