With the REO business booming, a lot of newbies are trying to break into a surefire business in tough times. That’s where my trade organization, ASREOS (the American Society of REO Specialists) gives its members an unbeatable professional advantage.

Between the advice our REO experts give out, as well as the things you can learn from other REO pros on our members-only forum, there’s a wealth of inside information you have access to that can give you an instant leg up on the competition. And I hope you’re making full use of all that knowledge.

For instance, if you saw my new article, “Button Down Your BPO’s”, you’ll see that I gave out a simple formula for adjusting the BPO price in regards to sold and active comparables in the gross living area. This is just one of the “secret” tricks and techniques I’ve picked up over the years as a very successful REO agent and expert.

And it’s just a small, small part of what membership in ASREOS brings you. There’s also our top secret list of REO sellers, your own professional online profile, searchable by zip code, and other important resources.

If you want to make money in the REO business, this is the time to maximize all your advantages to stand out from the herd. If you’re already a member, make sure to use everything we have to offer. If you’re not already a member, you’re welcome to join and seek out the REO training you’ll need to succeed, if you don’t have a lot of experience.

I invite you to find out more about us and what we do at www.ASREOS.com.

If you’re already an REO agent or want to become one, there’s one important thing you have to do to receive a continuous stream of REO listing assignments and BPO orders. And that’s to strive to submit on time, every time, a 100% accurate and complete BPO (Broker Price Opinion).

For those of you unaware of what a BPO is, it’s a tool used by lenders and mortgage companies to value properties in situations where they believe the expense and delay of an appraisal is not necessary – BPO’s are used extensively on foreclosures. REO agents and brokers are assigned to do them by the lender or asset management company, and it’s also a common entryway to actually being awarded REO properties to sell.

Doing an accurate BPO can be tricky and difficult, however, when you adjust the price of the foreclosed property against active and sold comparable properties in the gross living area. This is one of the first things the asset manager or the quality control manager is going to review when they’re auditing your BPO.

If your adjustments aren’t consistent and on the money, then you’ll be asked to do it all over again – and your quality control score will suffer. There’s a way to avoid that unfortunate situation – by using the formula below to accurately calculate the adjustment.

Step # 1: Add the sales price of all three of your sold comparables:
For example, $900,000 + $870,000 + $800,000 = $2,570,000

Step #2: Add up the square feet (above ground – do not include the basement, if there is one) of all three sold comps.

Example: 4,000 sq. ft. + 4,500 sq. ft. + 4000 sq. ft. = 12,500 sq. ft.

Step #3: Now, divide the total combined sales price of all three by the total square footage of all three.

Example: 2,570,000 from Step #1 divided by 12,500 from Step #2 = 206.
This determines your average price per square foot in the area: $206.

Step # 4: Determine your adjustment value by multiplying that average price by .25.
Example: $206 x .25 = $51.

So $51 is the amount you would use to adjust for the variance in square feet between the subject property you’re doing the BPO on and your comps.
Here’s how you use that number. Let’s say the difference in square feet between the subject property and the comp is 500 sq. feet in this particular scenario. That means you multiply that 500 by $51 – which equals $25,500. That is your adjustment figure.

So if the comp is bigger, you would make a negative adjustment by subtracting the $25,500. If it’s smaller, then you make a positive adjustment and add $25,500.
Keep in mind that you are trying to “equalize” the indicated value. Let’s continue working with the $51 per square foot adjustment figure we calculated above. Let’s say your comp is 3,800 sq. ft. and, again, your subject property is 4000 sq. ft. The difference is 200 sq. ft. We multiply that by the $51 and raise the indicated value of it by $10,200.

By making this adjustment, we are saying that if the comp were 200 sq. ft. larger (equal in size to our subject), that it would have sold for $10,200 more than it actually did sell for.

You can get more tips like these from the national trade association ASREOS, the American Society of REO Specialists, which is an important resource for those wanting to work in the incredibly lucrative REO industry. Find out more by visiting www.ASREOS.com.

Scottsdale, Ariz. – February 10, 2010 – The “Shadow Inventory,” explained by Frank Patrick in a recent article on http://www.ASREOS.com, are foreclosure properties that have yet to be officially recorded or to become part of the massive amount of REO listings currently for sale all across America. “There could be as many as seven million potential REO homes that are still in this ‘shadow inventory.’ Those are seven million REO homes that will need agents and brokers who possess the proper training in dealing with REO properties,” remarked Frank Patrick.

Frank Patrick is the founder of The American Society of REO Specialists, or ASREOS. ASREOS is a national trade association founded in 2008 to assist ASREOS members in making contact with banks, lenders, asset management companies and property preservation companies that need competent REO professionals to service their REO properties. ASREOS also enables members to network in a professional and supportive environment and offers ongoing dynamic, cutting-edge REO resources to help members grow their business and their own personal performance in the REO marketplace. ASREOS also provides a comprehensive directory of REO professionals for banks, lenders, asset management companies and property preservation companies.

In the article, “How To Become An REO Agent: The Shadow Inventory,” Frank Patrick writes, “2010 is going to be another huge year for REO sales, no matter how you look at the picture – and probably another record-breaker. REO homes also continue to be the hot real estate category that buyers are interested in, due to the value they provide.”

The online home of ASREOS (http://www.asreos.com), the American Society of REO Specialists, is growing in leaps and bounds to help REO professionals gain a competitive edge and get access to these lucrative listings. ASREOS is the first REO trade association founded by REO experts, and it features advice from top REO agents, access to an exclusive database of over 130 REO sellers, and profiles of its members in an online searchable directory of REO vendors that banks, lenders and asset managers can utilize when looking for local agents to list and sell their REO properties. Find out more at www.ASREOS.com.

About Frank Patrick:

Frank Patrick began his real estate career in 2000 after a 12-year stint in corporate America as a sales manager. As a new real estate agent Frank knew that he wanted to find a niche within the real estate industry. After months of research Frank decided to specialize in REO, an acronym for bank owned foreclosed homes. Frank quickly became one of the top REO agents in the nation averaging over 100 transactions per year for the last 8 years. In 2007 Frank’s production soared to over 214 sales.

In 2004 Frank and his brother Scott Patrick started a property preservation company to offer maintenance and repair services to banks with foreclosed homes. Frank’s solid understanding of the REO industry and Scott’s 20+ years in the construction business was a recipe for success. This year their property preservation business is on track to gross over one million dollars in revenue. Today Frank manages his REO Real Estate Brokerage, REO Renegades an REO agent training business, his trade association The American Society of REO Specialists and is developing a national Franchise Property Preservation company, REO ResQ.

For more information please visit http://www.ASREOS.com

Scottsdale, Ariz. – February 5, 2010 – In a recent article on http://www.ASREOS.com, Frank Patrick points out the remarkable opportunity for those interested in making money in the REO industry. These include REO agents, REO brokers, REO Sellers and other REO companies. The article, titled “How To Become an REO Agent and Get REO Listings,” explains how REO (Real Estate Owned) properties are currently the biggest-selling home category in America.

Frank Patrick wrote, “The key to how to become an REO agent is to understand how to work with REO Sellers. It’s a very different dynamic than working with “normal” real estate transactions, as you’re not dealing with the actual homeowners. Rather, you’re working with large companies, many of them not even located in the same state as the REO property in question.”

Frank explains that a great resource for getting inside the REO arena is ASREOS, the American Society of REO Specialists, which offers all kinds of benefits to its membership, consisting of both REO veterans and beginners to the business.

The American Society of REO Specialists was founded in 2008 and is guided by the following four goals. First, to assist ASREOS members in making contact with banks, lenders, asset management companies and property preservation companies that need competent REO professionals to service their REO properties. Second, to enable ASREOS members to network in a professional and supportive environment. Third, to offer ongoing dynamic cutting-edge REO resources to help members grow their business and their own personal performance in the REO marketplace, and finally, to provide a comprehensive directory of REO professionals for banks, lenders, asset management companies and property preservation companies.

The online home of ASREOS (http://www.asreos.com), the American Society of REO Specialists, is growing in leaps and bounds to help REO professionals gain a competitive edge and get access to these lucrative listings. ASREOS is the first REO trade association founded by REO experts, and it features advice from top REO agents, access to an exclusive database of over 130 REO sellers, and profiles of its members in an online searchable directory of REO vendors that banks, lenders and asset managers can utilize when looking for local agents to list and sell their REO properties. Find out more at www.ASREOS.com.

About Frank Patrick:

Frank Patrick began his real estate career in 2000 after a 12-year stint in corporate America as a sales manager. As a new real estate agent Frank knew that he wanted to find a niche within the real estate industry. After months of research Frank decided to specialize in REO, an acronym for bank owned foreclosed homes. Frank quickly became one of the top REO agents in the nation averaging over 100 transactions per year for the last 8 years. In 2007 Frank’s production soared to over 214 sales.

In 2004 Frank and his brother Scott Patrick started a property preservation company to offer maintenance and repair services to banks with foreclosed homes. Frank’s solid understanding of the REO industry and Scott’s 20+ years in the construction business was a recipe for success. This year their property preservation business is on track to gross over one million dollars in revenue. Today Frank manages his REO Real Estate Brokerage, REO Renegades an REO agent training business, his trade association The American Society of REO Specialists and is developing a national Franchise Property Preservation company, REO ResQ.

For more information please visit http://www.ASREOS.com

Orlando, Fla. – February 2, 2010 – Frank Patrick, founder of REO ResQ™, REO Renegades, and The American Society of REO Specialists, was recently inducted into The National Academy of Best-Selling Authors™ after releasing the book, Big Ideas For Your Business: America’s PremierExperts® Show You How to Make Your Business More Fun & More Profitable. The book was written in collaboration with America’s PremierExperts®, a group of America’s leading experts in various fields of business. They are celebrity experts who are dedicated to spreading knowledge and awareness in their field of expertise and making significant contributions to their industry and the marketplace as a whole.

Big Ideas For Your Business was released on July 23rd, 2009. On the day of release, the book reached the best-seller list in two categories, the Management and Leadership – Systems and Planning category, and the Business Management category.

Frank Patrick authored a chapter in the book titled, “REO Properties: Finding a Niche Market for Maximum Profits.” Frank was chosen as one of America’s PremierExperts® based on his expertise and success in the REO sales and property preservation industry. Frank Patrick is considered one of the country’s top property preservation and REO specialists, and currently is at the helm of a property preservation company, REO agent training business, and trade association dedicated to REO specialists. (REO ResQ, REO Renegades, and The American Society of REO Specialists, respectively.)

The National Academy of Best Selling Authors™ was founded by two attorneys, JW Dicks, Esq. and Nick Nation, Esq. who are also best selling authors and represent authors and experts nationwide. Both of the attorneys are members of multiple organizations, associations and academies that recognize and honor the best in the business, and they thought a similar organization should be created for Best Selling authors who don’t always get recognition for their accomplishment. Authors themselves, they recognized that only a very limited number of books made the major New York Times Best Seller list and just like the awards shows put on by the entertainment-based organizations, they wanted to have more categories for authors to be accepted and recognized for their accomplishment. The National Academy of Best Selling Authors™ now honors authors from many of the leading independent best-seller lists.

To order your copy of Big Ideas For Your Business please visit http://www.amazon.com/Ideas-Your-Business-Nick-Nanton/dp/1599321076

For more information on Frank Patrick, please visit http://www.ASREOS.com and http://www.REORESQ.com

To find out more about The National Academy of Best-Selling Authors™ visit http://www.academyofauthors.org/

About Frank Patrick:

Frank Patrick began his real estate career in 2000 after a 12-year stint in corporate America as a sales manager. As a new real estate agent Frank knew that he wanted to find a niche within the real estate industry. After months of research Frank decided to specialize in REO, an acronym for bank owned foreclosed homes. Frank quickly became one of the top REO agents in the nation averaging over 100 transactions per year for the last 8 years. In 2007 Frank’s production soared to over 214 sales.

In 2004 Frank and his brother Scott Patrick started a property preservation company to offer maintenance and repair services to banks with foreclosed homes. Frank’s solid understanding of the REO industry and Scott’s 20+ years in the construction business was a recipe for success. This year their property preservation business is on track to gross over one million dollars in revenue. Today Frank manages his REO Real Estate Brokerage, REO Renegades an REO agent training business, his trade association The American Society of REO Specialists and is developing a national Franchise Property Preservation company, REO ResQ.

For more information on Frank Patrick, please visit http://www.ASREOS.com and http://www.REORESQ.com

The National Academy of Best-Selling Authors™:

The National Academy of Best Selling Authors™ was founded by two attorneys, JW Dicks, Esq. and Nick Nation, Esq. who are also best selling authors and represent authors and experts nationwide. Both of the attorneys are members of multiple organizations, associations and academies that recognize and honor the best in the business, and they thought a similar organization should be created for Best Selling authors who don’t always get recognition for their accomplishment. Authors themselves, they recognized that only a very limited number of books made the major New York Times Best Seller list and just like the awards shows put on by the entertainment-based organizations, they wanted to have more categories for authors to be accepted and recognized for their accomplishment. The National Academy of Best Selling Authors™ now honors authors from many of the leading independent best-seller lists.

To find out more about The National Academy of Best-Selling Authors™ visit http://www.academyofauthors.org/

The foreclosure crisis is incredible enough – already offering amazing opportunities for REO agents and brokers. But now there is finally some sunshine lighting up the so-called “shadow inventory” of foreclosure properties that have yet to be officially recorded or to become part of the massive amount of REO listings currently for sale all across America.

Real estate data and records company First American CoreLogic estimates this shadow inventory at 1.7 million homes as of the end of September 2009 – that’s 1.7 million more homes that should eventually find their way to become REO homes for sale (this report can be accessed at http://www.facorelogic.com/uploadedFiles/Newsroom/RES_in_the_News/FACL_Shadow_Inventory_121809.pdf ).

With 3 million official foreclosures already estimated to hit the REO listings in 2009, that means an incredible amount of potential profit for anyone interested in how to become an REO agent. The other astounding aspect of these numbers? Most experts think they’re too low.

In a blog posted at “The Wall Street Journal” online site on December 18th, 2009, analyst James R. Hagerty makes the point that First American expects that 68% of mortgages that are over 90 days late in payments won’t go into foreclosure. With today’s economy, that’s a huge assumption to make. Especially when another company, Lender Processing Services, estimates that 30% of the properties that have been in foreclosure for 12 months haven’t even hit the market yet. 30%!

Basically, that means there could be as many as 7 million potential REO homes that are still in this “shadow inventory.” Those are 7 million REO homes that will need agents and brokers who possess the proper training in dealing with REO properties.

Most people have heard of homeowners just walking away from their properties rather than go through the foreclosure process. Just to underscore the magnitude of the REO explosion, some banks are doing the exact same thing to their lenders, believe it or not. In San Francisco, the financial institution Morgan Stanley is giving back five office buildings it purchased a few years earlier from The Blackstone Group. It’s estimated the five buildings are now worth approximately half the value Morgan Stanley bought them for at the time.

2010 is going to be another huge year for REO sales, no matter how you look at the picture – and probably another record-breaker. REO homes also continue to be the hot real estate category that buyers are interested in, due to the value they provide.
The national trade association ASREOS, the American Society of REO Specialists, is an important resource for those wanting to enter this lucrative field – or for those already working in the REO industry.

In addition to providing invaluable REO training advice and essential tips on how to get REO listings, ASREOS, run by nationally-known REO expert Frank Patrick, offers its members the ability to post their online profile, searchable by zip code, which can be accessed by REO Sellers. ASREOS also features an exclusive database of financial institutions that control REO listings.

One of ASREOS’ most useful features is a members-only forum that allows REO professionals to trade inside secrets and tips to each other. Find out more by visiting www.ASREOS.com.

As I saw this “perfect storm” of foreclosures coming, I knew it was the right moment to begin ASREOS (The American Society of REO Specialists) a little over a year ago. Now everyone wants to know how to get REO listings and obtain the inside knowledge necessary to deal with REO properties.

ASREOS was set up to do just that – with our valuable interviews with top REO agents, our members-only forum where REO pros can swap enlightening tips, the online profiles we provide our members and, of course, the top-secret REO Sellers list that only our folks get access to.

For any of you thinking this REO boom was just a momentary fluctuation, think again. Foreclosure rates and mortgage default numbers continue to escalate, because of the horrible jobs picture – and that picture isn’t expected to brighten any time soon.

It’s unfortunate to see all these homeowners in trouble – but, as I always say, the best thing, when foreclosure happens, is to get these REO homes on the market and sold ASAP. It helps the economy, it helps the neighborhoods where these homes sit vacant often for months and it helps the real estate market to stabilize.

When some experts estimate the “shadow inventory” of foreclosures that have yet to be officially recorded in the real estate numbers at 7 million, even I can’t believe it – but that’s just what people in the know are saying. Even I don’t predict that all of them will become REO properties – but if even half of them do, that will be more than the official number of foreclosures recorded in 2009.

The REO opportunity in 2010 will be bigger than the last two years – because these REO homes will need to be sold to help out the struggling banks and financial institutions that own them.

I hope that all of our ASREOS members had a profitable 2009 – and I wish all of you the best in 2010. For those of you considering exploring how to be an REO agent and how to get REO listings, I hope you stop by www.ASREOS.com to see all we have to offer.

Happy New Year and let’s hope 2010 is a good one for everyone in America.

REO (Real Estate Owned) properties are currently the biggest-selling home category in America. And that’s a situation that’s not about to change soon.

For those of you who don’t know what REOs are all about, when a property goes through a foreclosure process, usually the financial institution that backed the mortgage ends up owning the home. That REO Seller then has the property cleaned-up, secured, repaired and put back on the market as an REO listing.

Most REO Sellers don’t really want to be in the home-selling business. They rely on professional REO agents and brokers to take care of all the groundwork. REO homes, of course, are very attractive to buyers because they are traditionally priced much lower than comparable homes being sold by the actual owners. Banks and asset managers are anxious to get REO homes off their books and close out the unpaid mortgage.

That’s why there’s an amazing opportunity for those interested in making money in the REO industry. While job losses continue to mount in America and traditional occupations suffer, the REO business is still booming and is likely to be for some time.

At the moment, delinquencies on mortgages still outnumber the amount of home loans being approved. It’s estimated that one out of four Americans are behind on their mortgages. And it’s also a fact that most first-time home buyers are buying REO homes.

The key to how to become an REO agent is to understand how to work with these REO Sellers. It’s a very different dynamic than working with “normal” real estate transactions, as you’re not dealing with the actual home owners. Rather, you’re working with large companies, many of them not even located in the same state as the REO property in question.

The main challenge is building up a professional and reputable image with these companies. Generally, the best way to build that relationship is to perform what are called BPO’s (Broker Price Opinion) on REO homes – it’s basically deciding on a sales value for an REO property. It’s not an official appraisal, and the REO Seller will usually gather a few on the same property to get a consensus.

A great resource for getting inside the REO arena is ASREOS, the National Association of REO Specialists, which offers all kinds of benefits to its membership, consisting of both REO veterans and beginners to the business. In addition to providing invaluable REO training advice and essential tips on how to get REO listings, ASREOS, run by nationally-known REO expert Frank Patrick, offers its members the ability to post their online profile, searchable by zip code, which can be accessed by REO Sellers. ASREOS also features an exclusive database of financial institutions that control REO listings.

One of ASREOS’ most useful features is a members-only forum that allows REO professionals to trade inside secrets and tips to each other. Find out more by visiting www.ASREOS.com.

While everyone is anxious to be a part of a money-making business when the economy is in such a bad state, it’s not incredibly easy to immediately be accepted as an REO pro by REO banks and asset managers.

These are big companies who need to sell these foreclosed homes, not just homeowners like you and me who want to move to a different house. That’s why it’s very, very important to conduct yourself in a way that will put them at ease and gain their trust.

Even if you’re just performing BPO’s at this stage, you need to be punctual, thorough and organized with them. If an REO bank can’t trust you with a BPO, how are they going to trust you when it comes to actually giving you REO listings?

Professionalism is something I stress with the members of my trade association, ASREOS (the National Association of REO Specialists). We also regularly feature conference calls and webinars on different aspects of the REO selling experience and I occasionally endorse programs and tools REO agents and brokers can use to give them a head start when it comes to giving them an edge over the extensive competition.

But knowledge and hi tech tools only take you so far. Again, if the REO banks and asset managers don’t view you as dependable and reliable, you won’t get those REO listings. Image is always important, no matter what your business. And that’s never truer than when you’re working with a big company.

As always, you’re welcome to come visit us at our website, www.asreos.com, to find out more about all the resources we provide to REO beginners and veterans alike.

One in four mortgages in Florida is either past due or somewhere in the foreclosure process. California foreclosures grew 22% this past October from the previous month – and are up 21% from the previous year.

And the biggest danger sign that the REO boom is very far from over? A new survey from the Mortgage Banker’s Association shows that the mortgage delinquency rate across the country is just about 10% – a record high since they began tracking this figure in 1972.

One final alarming figure – if you put together all loans either in delinquency or foreclosure, it breaks the 14% mark – also a record for the MBA survey.
This demonstrates that the surging unemployment is fueling yet a third giant wave of foreclosures that might end up being the biggest one of them all. For the most part, the homeowners that are now in trouble are homeowners with good credit and solid mortgages who are unable to meet their house payments because of sudden unemployment or under-employment.

The smart way to move in this kind of economy is with it, not against it – and to join the ranks of other REO agents and brokers who are cashing in on the enormous amount of REO properties that REO banks are selling with great success. Another statistic points that out – over 25% of all Americans who are in the market to buy a home want an REO deal. They know the price will be lower and they’ll be able to afford a larger home or one in a more expensively-priced area.

That means REO Sellers need more REO pros than ever before to help service and market their homes for them. To help meet that need, ASREOS, the American Society for REO Specialists, was created by nationally-recognized REO expert Frank Patrick in 2008. Patrick saw that the huge amount of REO listings was going to dominate the real estate landscape and that REO sellers would need a whole new army of REO agents with the proper training to handle the incredible amount of properties.

“There’s never been a resource like this for both beginning REO vendors and experienced ones that’s been run by REO professionals,” Patrick says. “Fortunately, I began specializing in the foreclosure niche years ago, before it was such a substantial portion of the housing market – so I saw the challenges that were coming before most people in the general real estate profession. I specifically created a trade association that was designed to hopefully meet everyone’s needs in every conceivable way.”

ASREOS’ array of exclusive member benefits include a members-only forum at Patrick’s website, Asreos.com, where ASREOS members can swap tips on how to get REO listings and deal with REO banks, post an online profile searchable by zip code so REO Sellers can find qualified agents instantly and easily, access to free interviews with top national REO agents, and other comprehensive resources. ASREOS also features an exclusive database of financial institutions that control REO listings.

Find out more about this thriving trade association devoted to REO training and education by visiting their website at www.ASREOS.com.