My List of 120+ BPO, REO and Asset Management Companies is Now FREE! By Nicole Ocean

If you would like to go right to the original source of the person who created one of the first lists of direct links to BPO and REO companies (My list was first offered and created in Jan. 2007) then I’d like to personally invite you to check out my FREE list of over 120 BPO, REO and Asset Management companies. I used to charge $19.99 for my list, but now offer it for free! (It is updated frequently and I’ve intentionally left out the bad companies that don’t pay from my list) Plus, come check out my newest eBook on how to use software to automate doing the data entry side of your BPO and REO orders.

Click here to go there now!

Warmly,
Nicole Ocean  BPO Trainer/Realtor

www.nicoleocean.com

360-223-2482

P.S.  Happy New Year Everybody! I hope my lists helps you grow your BPO and/or REO business in leaps and bounds in 2009!

The Craziest BPO Order I’ve Even Been Asked to Do! By Nicole Ocean

When I stop to think about all of the orders I have done over the last few years (the numbers being in over 1,000) many times come to mind about being asked to do some pretty crazy things. The one that sticks in my mind the most is this one………

When I was asked by LSI/Fidelity to do a BPO order that paid $45, for a property that was located on an island that did not have traditional access to by a ferry. It was a very small island that was about 7 miles off shore of Bellingham. I’ve been on the island before and knew that many of the residents who owned a cabin on the island could only access it by private boat or pontoon plane.

After telling LSi this fact, and that I wasn’t able to complete the order and that I was not able to go out to the island because it did not have regular access to it by means of a public ferry boat, they put the order on hold. They proceeded to call me back the next day and suggest that I contact the homeowner themselves to see how to get on the island. They gave me his name and number.

At this point, I didn’t want anything to do with the order, but LSI kept pushing. I didn’t want to let this affect my rating with them or my relationship so that I might jeopardize future work with them ( I was getting a really good amount of BPO’s from them), so I picked up the phone to talk to the owner.

After explaining who I was and why I was calling him, the owner suggested that I come along with him out to the island because he had a private boat……( I was officially worried at this point and uncomfortable with the idea) I politely declined and called LSI back to tell them I wasn’t going to do the order because there was no logical way where I felt safe to do the order. Plus, they were asking a lot from me for a mere $45.00.

I had to literally fight to not have to do the order. In the end, this didn’t hurt my rating with them, but I was definitely a lot more cautious about the orders that they sent my way from this point on.

Do you have a story about a BPO or REO company asking you to do something CRAZY? I’d love to hear it!

Thanks for reading, I definitely enjoyed writing it! Plus, I’ve got many more stories like this that I will occasionally share with everyone. I hope you got a kick out of it!

Remember everyone just because a company offers you a BPO order, you are never REQUIRED to accept it or do it. Especially, if they are asking you to do something illogical, far fetched or just plain crazy!

Best to you all,

Nicole Ocean

BPO Trainer/Realtor

www.nicoleocean.com

360-223-2482

Can You Believe That People Are Stealing My Customer Testimonials and Infringing on my Copyrighted Material? I’ll Prove It! Part II By Nicole Ocean

In my last blog I let you know of one instance where someone was infringing on my copyright material, in this blog I am calling out everyone (that I know of) who has ever violated my copyright so as to bring attention to an serious issue that many are not aware of that is and has been happening with information products, in specific with Broker Price Opinion eBooks. 

Here is a list of other people (most are past customers) who have infringed on my copyrighted material in some way and a brief history about who they are and what they did to me. They are:

1. Chad Williams, who is a real estate salesperson and was also a past customer of mine who purchased my BPO Manual. Some of the websites he uses to promote his ‘similiar’ BPO products are: bpokit.com and reokit.com I wouldn’t be surprised if he passed my BPO Manual around to everyone he knew for free.

(P.S. Everyone reading this, please do not email or send someone an eBook that they have not purchased themselves, by doing this you are doing a HUGE disservice to the author and are actually infringing on the author’s copyright. Instead send a link to the website where they can purchase their own copy)

I stumbled upon finding out that Chad infringed on my in October of 2007, just months after purchasing my BPO Manual. He was guilty of copying and pasting some of my customer testimonials to post on his website as his own. Plus, he also stole content from some of my eBay auction ads to use on his own website that is no longer active: bporealestate.net. He was the first person to do this to me. After confronting him and directly dealing with it I was able to get him to take down my customer’s information and my content from his website within 1 month of when I initiated contact with him.

2. Ray Soriano, a past eBay customer and real estate agent in California at the time, he purchased my list of 120 BPO, REO and Asset Mgmt companies for $19.99 and then tried to turn around and sell ‘his own list’ that he likely recreated (hopefully) from using mine as a template. He was trying to sell his list for three times more than I sell mine for, but his website is no longer active. I found him by Googling, “Broker Price Opinion,” and seeing something suspicious in a search result that pointed to an ad on Craigslist. I followed up by emailing for more information to kind out what he was really doing.

This type of thing has happened to me countless times since I first started selling Broker Price Opinion information and eBooks in January 2007. These copyright infringers found me online through my website, through the items I sold on eBay and elsewhere. Plus, many of my infringers are past customers.

3. I have had Kimberly Ramer of Kimclass and NABPOP, used an employee or used a fictious name to try to purchase one of my lists of companies for $19.99 in May of 2007. I am sure that they would have used it to make their list more up to date, because I update my list every few months. I made sure that they didn’t get their hands on it and refunded their money.

4. A past eBay customer and real estate salesperson in California, Sherie Corsello, bought and tried to resell my list of BPO, REO and Asset Management companies. She purchased my eBook for $19.99 and tried to resell ‘her own list,’ for $49.00. She denied that she used any part of my list of information in my eBook as her own, but it is painfully clear how much of a help my information was to her recreating her list.

5. I’ve had many of my other competitors purchase my BPO Manual so that they can get a point of reference, this is ok. The Owner of ForeclosureU did this as well as a few others.

My main problem with all of this is that I didn’t expect that other real estate professionals would take advantage of me in such a personal way and try to exploit all that I created to use as if they themselves created it.

This to me is the biggest slap in the face that I have encountered next to getting phone calls from countless strangers who let me know that their friend emailed them my BPO Manual eBook (In which, they themselves did not pay for it!) and that they had some questions for me. That was an even worse situation to deal with. In all instances it feels like I have been kicked square in the gut!

I hope you learned something useful from this post. Any constructive comments would be appreciated! Thanks so much for taking the time to read this blog!

Best to you,

 Nicole Ocean

 BPO Trainer/Realtor

 www.nicoleocean.com

Why Some BPO and REO Companies Aren’t Accepting New Vendor Applications by Nicole Ocean

It is definitely true that some BPO (and even REO and Asset Management) companies have either closed their doors to accepting new BPO vendor applications or will still let you apply but it may be quite some time until you hear back from them with your first BPO order.

The ironic thing is that I had experienced this too when I first got into the business over 2 years ago. The difference with me is that I didn’t take their “We are currently not accepting new vendors at this time,” as if it were set in stone. To prove this point I signed up with FARVV about 2 years ago when I was signing up for multiple other companies and I received an email from them 1 year after I registered asking if I still wanting to work for them….crazy huh!

Some of the same companies that are still turning away new people even turned me away 2 years ago when I tried to register with them. That didn’t stop me though, because I have worked with over 30 different BPO, REO and Asset management companies in the 2+ years that I have been doing BPO’s full-time.

Here are the top 3 reasons that I’ve found as to why they may not be accepting new vendors:

1. Too many new people applying and they are overloaded….it would just be a matter of time before they’d get to you, but it could take quite awhile (It helped me to follow up with them by calling them after submitting my application and checking in with them about what I was facing and what to expect. By doing this extra step I received work the same day I’d call in. This little but very necessary follow-up sure helped me stand out from others.

2. The person applying simply does not have enough experience or time in the business. Some companies required that I have at least 2 years in the real estate and/or the BPO & REO business, while others required that their agents have REO listing experience in order to join their company as a BPO/REO vendor. (Some companies focus on having a selling point in that they do not have inexperienced vendors working for them so that their potential clients that would give them BPO/REO work over another company that may not be as strict)

3. The companies are happy with their existing relationships that they have with their current vendors and are satisfied (enough) with the quality of work that they are doing for them. Plus, it is always harder to start from scratch by working with someone new where they don’t know what type of track record or accountability a new vendor offers.

To wrap this up, you can’t wait for the various companies to call or email you. You’ve got to be proactive and go out there to get business. Just like you do in your real estate sales side. Plus as I am sure you are already aware of both industries are highly competitive thus anything you can do to stand out from your competitors is bound to get you closer to what you are working hard to achieve.

Wishing you the best!

Nicole Ocean

nicolesdreams eBooks

Your #1 Source for Broker Price Opinion Education and eBooks!

www.nicoleocean.com

Want to Know Why You’re Not Getting BPO Work? by Nicole Ocean

Greetings!

 I’ve decided that it’s time to speak out about explaining why some people don’t get BPO work right away after signing up with various BPO, REO and Asset Mgmt companies.

 Over the past 2 years I’ve spoken with handfuls of other real estate professionals who are wanting to get into the Broker Price Opinion business. Times and opportunities are getting tougher for those who are just coming into the BPO and REO business.

 A lot of people that I speak with don’t understand just how important it is to be educated about the current status of the BPO industry as well as be informed about just how much competition there is within their current local market. You can go to www.reonetwork.com to see who your local competitors are.

 From my experience the BPO industry has become even more competitive than a year ago and for good reason. In the past few years there has been an explosion and impeding implosion within the lending industry (“the sub-prime mess,” where the clean up process will be around for awhile.) Plus, many real estate markets across the U.S. have suffered from declining markets, REO and short sale driven markets as well as homeowners and homebuyers being affected by the economy. 

With all of these factors staring us all in the face, more and more real estate professionals turned to and found out about BPOs and REOs and thus decided to dabble in BPO work. Many people decided to do BPO work to help supplement their income while others may be doing them to get REO listings (this is where BIG money is at) and then there are those that are just trying their hardest to simply stay in real estate. I commend all of you, no matter your motivation! You are smart for seeking out opportunities and alternatives that are only going to help your real estate career. Give yourself a pat on the back!

Here are some of the suggestions and explanations I share with people about why they aren’t getting BPO work?

**Existing competition with more time and experience in the business**

**Not enough volume of work to support the current amount of BPO vendors**

**Companies became a lot more strict about only hiring people with experience**

**Some companies have closed their door on accepting new vendors**

**The person applying to be a BPO vendor didn’t do something to “stand out,” from other or given the companies that they are applying to a good reason to hire them.**

**These same people stop pursuing the possibility of becoming a BPO vendor for companies because they only take the time to sign up at their website and do no other type of follow up**

Lastly, I would recommend that if your expectation is that you can sign up with a new company today (10/20/2008) and think that you will get work tomorrow you need to adjust your expectation level. Not to say this kind of thing doesn’t still happen for some people, but for most you have to treat your BPO business venture just as you do your real estate sales career.

I think the key to anything is to be as educated as possible about anything that you want to master. So, as you jump into the BPO world with both of your feet planted firmly on the ground, don’t be afraid of having to sweat a little bit to get what you out of the BPO and REO business. You can do it! Hopefully, with this blog you understand more about why it is harder to get BPO work and you can take this information to help you achieve your immediate need to get BPO work.

Plus, if you have a need to ask some pretty specific, hard to get answered questions, feel free to give me a call 360-223-2482 or visit my website: www.nicoleocean.com Plus, I’ve got a wonderful resource where you can read through over 140 different BPO and REO related topics, it’s called the, “BPO Student Forum,” check it out at my website!

Best of success to you!

www.nicoleocean.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Warmly,

Nicole Ocean

 nicolesdreams eBooks

 www.nicoleocean.com

 www.nicolesdreamsebooks.com

 360-223-2482