Bank of America; Invitation to Join Bank Panel for Residential Valuations

[Sandra Koutsopoulos]

Having been a broker/agent for many decades, I'm not aware of any license problem or sanctions to a real estate licensee for a lousy BPO. In fact, it has been my experience that the majority of agents are so bad at coming to a defensible value, that when I was hired by an REO agent to do her BPOs, she disagreed with me using similar located properties (busy street), or dinging an over-priced 5 bedroom house with no eating space and carpeted kitchen, and insisted I use "comps" 1.5-2.5 miles away from subject in a fully-built-out and active subdivision with MANY recent sales & listings. Her objective was to pitch lenders a high value that she said she could bring in ('cuz she was so SPECIAL, dontcha know), but after she got the listings she either had to start chopping list price right away or the listing would sit there over-priced and stale. Also, some of these F/C properties had very angry ppl there with weapons.

So, BPO's? No thanks.

 

[Charles West]

Maybe the REO market is heating up because there isnt any other reason to order BPO's.

 

[Sandra Koutsopoulos]

Maybe the REO market is heating up because there isnt any other reason to order BPO's.

I heard a news report today noting that credit card debt is very high now with something like 20% of debtors maxed out to their limit with late payments increasing. I'm wondering too whether the combination of 30%+ Cr Cd interest rates plus high mortgage interest rates for the last 3 years may have pushed some ppl to their limit and they are out of options.... unless mortgage rates come down a bit or the 2nd mortgage/equity loans can provide them a lifeline.
... and maybe result in more appraisals for us???...

 

[George Hatch]

A long time ago a broker mentioned to me that appraising was more stable than brokerage because we always have work whether the pricing trends are going up or down.

 

[OSU Beavers]

What I learned about BPOs:
.................
I usually estimate around 45 minutes to complete the report. But this does not take into consideration drive time and time on site.
...................

It takes me a minimum of 45 minutes just to sort the garbage information out of MLS and public records!

Just yesterday I was verifying the site size of a pending sale when I found out that it actually closed a full month ago. ****ing lazy Realtors!

Now the East coast reviewer is asking me why I did not use a sale which closed more than $100,000 less than the subject's contract price? Oh, I don’t know, maybe because it is located right next to the onion processing plant!

 

[Charles West]

I heard a news report today noting that credit card debt is very high now with something like 20% of debtors maxed out to their limit with late payments increasing. I'm wondering too whether the combination of 30%+ Cr Cd interest rates plus high mortgage interest rates for the last 3 years may have pushed some ppl to their limit and they are out of options.... unless mortgage rates come down a bit or the 2nd mortgage/equity loans can provide them a lifeline.
... and maybe result in more appraisals for us???...

I hooked up with a re broker after the market tanked during the crash and negotiated a 20% split against his listing commission with me doing bpos for portfolio managers. The gig lasted about 3 years if I remember correctly and saved me from going under on a flip project.

 

[Sandra Koutsopoulos]

Painful time

 

[Raven59]

BPOs for a fee are illegal in my state (for agents and brokers). A recent change in the appraiser licensing code prompted ServiceLink to send an email to all the agents and brokers regarding the change. The code change did not relate to BPOs but it was interpreted that way. The Real Estate Commission received numerous calls from agents inquiring whether they would be prohibited from conducting BPOs once the code change takes effect in July. It seems that most did not realize it was not legal. Further investigation indicates that the AMCs ordered more BPOs than appraisals in the state and paid the agents directly. All money must flow through the broker, which is not happening. This has become a hot topic in my state lately.

 

[Raven59]

But not for us.

Bank of America has recently implemented a new fee panel to directly engage BPO Providers to complete valuation orders via InspectionPort. The Bank would like to invite real estate brokers to join our new panel.

What do I need to do to join the Bank of America fee panel?

·

o Bank of America Provider Agreement

o Form W-9

o Authorization Agreement for Automatic Payments (ACH Agreement)

o Basic Coverage Information

o If applicable, CA Form 590 (Withholding Exemption Certificate) or CA Form 587 (Nonresident Withholding Allocation Worksheet)

o Certified Diverse Supplier form

o Bank of America Valuation Guidelines and Requirements

o Provider Onboarding Instructions document providing a step-by-step guide to complete each form.

Can a provisional broker accept compensation or only the broker-in-charge? Apologies if I have the licensing titles wrong. If only the broker-in-charge, can the provisional broker accept the BPO on behalf of the broker-in-charge? I ask because the money flow is an issue in my state.