As the “traditional slow time” of the year for real estate approaches, it’s more important than ever to ramp up your BPO business. This 90-day action plan was designed for newer BPO agents, but can be adapted for anyone at any level of the BPO business.
At this time, short sales are still a large part of the inventory in many areas and new foreclosure filings are UP – which means that BPO orders are up. At the same time, some agents are stating that they’re having difficulties receiving assignments. This is most likely because those agents taking a “passive” approach to building a solid and consistent income from their BPO businesses. This class is about taking an active and aggressive approach to gaining new clients and increasing their number of BPO orders.
TIP: According to HREU “BPO Math,” approximately three BPOs per day can cover the TOTAL business and living expenses for the majority of agents! This is completely independent of real estate closings. Buyers walking, financing falling through, inspection problems, etc. are all issues that are common to “normal” real estate transactions. This is a chief cause of real estate “night sweats.” Income from BPO orders has nothing to do with whether a property closes or not. Appraisers get paid whether a property closes or not, and so do BPO agents.
Listed below is a 90-Day Massive Action Plan. Whether you’re a new BPO agent or experienced, put this plan into action TODAY to build a regular, consistent income and enter the traditional slow time of year NOT having to worry about whether a single closing will put you under water – or out of business!
1. Take MASSIVE ACTION
This applies to any business. The more action you take, the more results you get. BPO success is about targeting as many companies as possible (we pick out the best ones). Some BPO companies are regional and some are national. You can’t be sure where your business is going to come from at all times. Sign up (and follow up) with ALL of the companies we cover. Not all of them will have assignments in your area. You have to take somewhat of a gunshot approach to these companies to find out which are active in your area. A complete list of companies we’ve covered (including website links, contact info, etc.) can be found in the REO/BPO section of the member learning portal online. Click here for a list of BPO Companies to start apply with.
SECRET: Most “hopeful” BPO agents will never follow up with the companies they’ve applied with, even by email! Don’t let this be you! Take an active role in obtaining business. FOLLOW UP!
2. If you’re newer to the BPO business, take the 10-week BPO Challenge.
This 10-week program is great for any agent, especially those new to BPO. It takes you week by week through the steps to build a part time (or full time) BPO income. All the recorded calls and class notes are available in the member resources section of HarrisRealEstateUniversity.com. IMPORTANT: If you’re a newer agent DON’T pass this by! It’s critical to start your BPO business the right way so you’re ready when multiple orders start coming to you. A list of the top BPO companies to sign up with is included in Week 1.
3. NO doesn’t mean NO. It means NOT TODAY.
Not all companies will have BPO assignments in your area all the time. BPO assignments sometimes come in waves, and you’ll never know what companies they’ll come from. This is why regular follow up is so important in the BPO business. When you submit your agent application and the email response says they’re not hiring new agents, or they have no assignments in the area, this means NOT NOW. Too many agents will never follow up with a quality company when they hear the first NO. Our advice is to follow up regularly, be professional, and be polite but aggressive in your efforts to work with the particular company. The best way to find out if assignments are available now or in the future is to develop a relationship with a member of the vendor management department.
Once you have developed rapport with someone, they can usually give you the direct answer as to whether that company works in your area or may have assignments in the future.
4. Short sales and foreclosure filings are up around the country.
Since BPOs are assigned for both short sales and REOs, (many times multiple orders) this is a great opportunity for you to take advantage of. If you’re currently approved with, or currently working with certain BPO companies, follow up with the vendor management department and see if new assignments are coming to your area. If you’re currently working with BPO companies and haven’t received any orders in a while, be sure to check your profile to make sure everything is up to date. Don’t let other agents take business (and MONEY) from you because you haven’t updated your E&O insurance on the BPO company website.
5. Apply with one new BPO company per day.
This was partially covered in step one, but bears repeating. This is CRUCIAL for newer agents. NOTE: The only BPO company you can be CERTAIN to never receive business from is the one you DON’T apply with! We have covered at least 50 good BPO companies in this class. Most agents can earn a consistent income from three to four good companies. Most top BPO agents ($10,000+ per month) get most of their business from fewer than ten. Your job is to apply to them all and follow up with them all. You’ll find out soon enough who has business in your area. It only takes 15-20 minutes to fill out most of the online applications, so a couple of hours per week shouldn’t be too difficult for the goal of a full time income from BPOs. (Remember – only three BPOs per day over the course of time should be enough to cover most of your personal and business overhead.)
6. BONUS: This is for the agents who live in areas where there might not be an abundance of BPO assignments.
There aren’t many, but there are some. Your first goal is to do EVERYTHING POSSIBLE to become the dominant BPO agent in your market. Your second goal is to take advantage of other income opportunities from the limited BPOs in your area. You can use BPO experience to start receiving REO assignments. Many successful BPO agents have taken this route. You can leverage your BPO assignments to list short sales. Many homeowners who are having BPOs assigned for their homes are trying a loan modification. Unfortunately, most of these are declined. These people could be a perfect short sale client for you. NOTE: If your BPO opportunities are limited, use the BPOs you have to leverage other opportunities.
In review, if you’ll take MASSIVE ACTION as described above, you WILL get results! Take this opportunity to build your BPO business at a time when most other agents will be slowing down!
Learn more about this topic in our member learning portal >>
