Robert OHaugherty, REALTOR, ABR

I finally finished my 2nd BPO after 3 rejections and it took a week doing the comps on the subject property in a subdivision with a lot of REO's, foreclosures, and new notices to be foreclosed on. My hat is off to Pro-teck for being patient and communicating with me to arrive at a good solide opinion. And I with them: 3 major emails, 12 comparables, several phone calls. But when finished, I and them believe that Pro-tecks client has a very good idea of the value of their subject property. The economic situation didn't help, and with the large number of foreclosures, using foreclosures for comps made my opinion and Pro-tecks' job much more difficult.

All in all, the opinion is done and so far both Pro-teck and I are happy with the conclusion. Hopefully Pro-teck's client will understand. From the perspective of a broker/agent - remember to just keep at until completed. There's not much monetary reward for a BPO that takes a week, but a job well done is priceless.

Just finished BPO #2 with Pro-Teck. It was an interior and other than the interior pictures that had to be taken, it was about the same as the exterior. It took more time to complete due to the order needed comps to be as close to the subject property as possible and there was limited comps for the area. This involved more explainations and reasons why some comps were used and others not. Especially using a foreclosure as one of the comps. But it's finished and on to the next one. Approximate time to take the pics: 1.5hrs and two trips, subject was close to my home; approximate time to complete paperwork: 3hrs. I figure I'll get faster as time goes along and I get more familiar with the forms. I've already started streamlining my process of these.

Man, I'm thinking that it's probably a good idea to start reading up on property management. I've had two clients in the past week, one who wants to lease out her property I have listed for sale and the other who wants to purchase another distressed property and rent it. Both are considering leasing but want me to management the properties. And, on a recent BPO, an investor wants to continue purchasing property but we're meeting soon to look at the prospect of me managing his current homes and future purchases. I have another past client who is now considering purchasing small apartment complexes (4plexes and 10 units and under) before the purchase prices start going through the roof. Apartments are more cost effective than purchasing a home and leasing it.

The way I figure it, all the people needing a place to live who are coming out of their homes, are going to need housing that is not only with less maintenance than a house but costs less than leasing a house. And apartments do just that. No more mowing the lawn and the costs to maintain a yard, no more general maintenance of appliances, a lower cost to house the family like less property taxes and insurance. I see it happening already. My customers are moving from a 2,000sf, 3bdrm,2b home, $1,600/mo plus the adding all of the other costs, to an apartment, smaller 3bdrm, 2b for a flat $1,400/mo and no more money down the drain.

This economy is changing fast. I'm sitting here this morning looking at joining IREM. What a hoot!!

I was holding an open house once and an agent popped in, toured real quick and then asked me why I was holding an open house. She seemed impatient, said it was a waste of time, so I quickly responded about the way I see it-a way of meeting people who might be clients, prospecting, a way to learn about the surrounding community, talk the home up and meet-greet everyone and a way to get some work done while alone in the house. She left quickly. I held two more open house for this home before losing the listing without a sale. A few weeks later I met her again at a social function, but she had a big smile on her face, came over and said that she finally held her own open house and sold the home to the third family in the door. To me, you never know whom you'll met or who might buy.

If the client is ok for holding their home open to the public, I'll do it. I consider open houses part of the work required to be an agent if the client wants it.

I have a client that I've listed her property. Because of the slow moving market and the many calls as to whether my client would be interested in leasing her property is beginning to soak in. With 6 people ready to lease her house, she's now thinking of leasing the property, but she asked me to manage it, get a lease signed, pickup the monthly checks, keep the lawn mowed and track the repairs, etc. It's just I've not done property management before. It can't be rocket science but having the extra time to do it might be the question. Thoughts anyone....?