What is the usual BPO fee?

[CastleGal]

I am also a Realtor and last year I did a few BPOs for Clear Capitol and Corelogic. Corelogic charged $45 and Clear Capitol charged $65. When April 1st came around, Capitol One's BPO price dropped to $50. I did these to hopefully get some foreclosure listings, but never received one. Corelogic and Capitol One said that they could not say I would receive the listing. Apparently, banks have their favored Realtors. I got mad when I'd see the property I did a BPO for get listed by one of those ROBO Foreclosure Agents. Big waste of time. They take about an hour to complete. They require that you take a picture of the subject and a picture of the street address on the house or mailbox. The comp pictures can be taken from the MLS.

 

[JTip]

I have been doing a few Property Condition reports. $50 gets front, street and map. Answer 10 questions about the neighborhood, no value is given or suggested. No comps either. Takes 5 minutes to complete. Fills the suv tank half full.

Getting paid for a BPO is illegal in Pennsylvania. Even if legal, I would not do one for less than $200 after seeing what I had to go through for a couple of REO listings (no compensation for the BPO). They wanted a NEW one every 30 days. I will stick to regular listings from now on.

 

[CigarDad]

BPO's are completed on-line using the providers BPO form. It is much like an appraisal form. Pays between $50-$100. Three closed sales, three listings, photographs of subject front, street, and all comparables.

There are also interior BPO's which require an interior inspection and photographs of each room and a repair list with repair costs. These pay an additional $25-$50.

 

[Walter Kirk]

As an appraiser ANY opinion of value that you publish is considered an appraisal and you are required to retain an appraisal work file. How much will it cost you to do this?

BPO's are used to undercut appraisers by paying brokers to do our jobs. Do you really want to undercut your profession?

 

[stangtime]

As an appraiser ANY opinion of value that you publish is considered an appraisal and you are required to retain an appraisal work file. How much will it cost you to do this?

BPO's are used to undercut appraisers by paying brokers to do our jobs. Do you really want to undercut your profession?

My feelings exactly.

Dan

 

[Mike Garrett RAA]

It depends on your state's license law or statutes. Typically, brokers provide BPOs and appraisers provide appraisals. Both end up answering the same question..."what is the property worth?". If you are an appraiser providing an opinion of value, regardless of what you call it, is an appraisal and you are required to comply with USPAP.

Do you want to do an appraisal for, say, $45 even if it is limited in scope? I don't! A friend of mine says he is doing 40 to 50 of them a month to supplement his income since sales are way down. It's a lot of work for $1,800 to $2,000 a month. Basically he is doing what we do for about 1/10th the fee. My friend says it takes an average of two hours for each one and then there is the expense of inspecting the property and the comps. Works out to about $15 an hour.

My state is looking into brokers doing BPOs where those reports might be considered to be appraisals. It's going to get sticky because the license law clearly states those should only be done when the broker is seeking a listing. Those things were never intended to be an income source to the broker.

I concur with doing BPOs lessens our value as appraisers. On the other hand...if you need money to feed your family.....

 

[JSmith43]

My state is looking into brokers doing BPOs where those reports might be considered to be appraisals. It's going to get sticky because the license law clearly states those should only be done when the broker is seeking a listing. Those things were never intended to be an income source to the broker.

Mike, how do you think they will handle the "two hatters" that mix RE and appraising?

IMO, agents can separate their work, but it would be prudent to (up front) make the customer/client aware of the difference between a CMA and an appraisal. Print it on the back of your card, for example, at least a summary statement that there is a difference.

A consumer can value a 2 hatter for his appraisal expertise and real estate expertise. I have to say, I learned as much as an agent and broker about valuation fundamentals for residential properties as I learned from appraisal courses. And, I had a degree in economics as a basis for valuation theory. I owned a contracting business for 10 years. Quite a few hats.

Appraisers often have rich and varied backgrounds. Who is to know what is the primary trigger for a customer/client to accept the services of the agent/broker? Should it even be an issue?

The only logical way is up front disclosure of the services provided. But, I don't see uniform acceptance of that point of view.

 

[Meandering]

If they hire your to do a BPO because you are an appraiser, you must follow USPAP, and the online BPO platforms do not provide the space to include your scope of work, definition of Market Value, highest and best use analysis and all the stuff, mandatory to a minimum report, and include a place for you to prominately state the reporting format you are using.

If they hire you because you are a sales person, and you are a sales person operating under your broker's E&O, you may not be covered for anything you put in the report.

Also note that as a sales person the general real estate law is that you can only have one broker, as a slave only has one master, and the IRS has made concessions for real estate salespeople, as do most employment laws. So, when you are retained as a sales person you owe a portion of your fee to the broker. That is the IRS law, and the company that retains you because you are a sales person must adhear to that IRS law and write the check to the broker who will split the fee with you.

However, BPO companies want to subvert this and write checks and 1099s to sales people as if these salespeople were seperately employeed. Well, just cause nobody has been smeared in the news, does not mean nobody will.

You need to fully understand the potential liability and ramifications of producing these kinds of reports under each regulating authority, not just the state and broker, but the IRS, Federal Employment laws and the constricts of your E&O insurance. Because these things never get prosecuted immediately and when they are, it's always the little guy that gets hammered first and the hardest.

Think about it.

 

[Couch Potato]

My father's friend can give us lots "BPO" (Broker Price Opinion) work.

My father and I haven't agree yet, because we simply didn't state how much we would like to charge. Personally, I am not even sure what BPO is, how much work is involved and what forms to use. Anyhow... if I were to do some BPO, how much should I normally charged? Can this work be used for hours toward an AR license? Please tell me yes.

PS: my father and I work together for years...

Too funny!

 

[PropertyEconomics]

My father's friend can give us lots "BPO" (Broker Price Opinion) work.

My father and I haven't agree yet, because we simply didn't state how much we would like to charge. Personally, I am not even sure what BPO is, how much work is involved and what forms to use. Anyhow... if I were to do some BPO, how much should I normally charged? Can this work be used for hours toward an AR license? Please tell me yes.

PS: my father and I work together for years...

THIS MY FRIENDS IS WHATS WRONG WITH OUR INDUSTRY ..... un-freaking believeable ... but sadly reality.