Broker Price Opinion Training Coming to An Office Near You! By Nicole Ocean

Welcome Brokers, Managers and Realtors!

I am now offering ‘In-Office’ personalized training and consulting on Broker Price Opinions to all local real estate professionals in Washington state. Give me a call today to schedule a training session in your office today! 

The Training Can Be One-on-One or for a Group.

Within my training, I incorporate lessons that are based from my own personal experience of doing BPO’s full-time for the last two years as well as from my bestselling ‘How to’ manual on BPO’s. The training session can last from 1-4 hours. After each training session, students will receive their own copy of my BPO Manual to take with them, plus they will also receive a FREE 1-year membership to my BPO and REO forum where they can access over 140 BPO and REO related topics.

 

Click Here to See a FREE 12-page Sample of the BPO Manual.

The BPO Manual offers, 60+ pages of detailed instruction, plus company names and direct links to sign up with 120+ National BPO, REO and Asset Management companies whom offer Broker Price Opinions, Property Condition reports and more.

Topics covered within the manual includes detailed instruction on:

* What Exactly Is A BPO?
* Who is Allowed to Complete BPOs?
* Sample BPO Form
* Directory of BPO & REO Companies (13 pgs)
* Where Do I Find More BPO Companies?
* What Do I Need to Sign Up?
* How Do I Complete & Fill Out a BPO Form? (12 pgs)
* How to Get More Orders?
* Staying Organized
* Creating a File Folder System
* Setting up an Order Tracking System
* How Much Can I Expect to Make?
* When Will I Get Paid?
* Beating Out the Competition
* What Type of Equipment Do I Need?
* Vendor Rating System
* Wrap Up

 

Retail Value: $55.00

Everything you need to get started is included in this BPO Manual.

_____________________________________________________________________________

 

Topics covered within the BPO training includes detailed instruction on:

• What exactly is a Broker Price Opinion?

• Why are they ordered and who orders them?

• How much you can expect to make and when you’ll get paid.

• Looking at and understanding the various BPO forms.

• How to correctly fill out a BPO form from start to finish.

• Which companies to sign up with to become a BPO Agent.

• Ways to organize, manage and track your orders.

• How to beat out the competition.

• What type of equipment will you need and how to use it.

• How to sign up and what to expect when you first get into the BPO business.

• Understanding Quality Assurance and the Vendor rating system.

• How to get REO’s from doing BPO’s.

• A ‘Q & A’ section at the end of class.

• Plus, so much more!

 

Students will leave my training session with a solid foundation into the business and will understand the fundaments of the BPO business as well as have everything that they need to get started in the business right away!

The BPO Training Class Cost:

 

1-Hour Class	$150/ Per Person*
4- Hour Class	$250/ Per Person*
One-on-One Coaching	$39.99/hour**

Remember the BPO Manual ($55.00 Value) will be included for each person that attends the BPO training class. Plus they will also receive a FREE 1-year membership to my BPO and REO forum where they can access over 140 BPO and REO related topics. ($39.99 Value)

*dependant on your office location and any travel expenses that are required. A minimum class size may be required for any training class outside of Whatcom and Skagit counties.**One-on-One Coaching may be used either over the phone or with me coming to you. The BPO Manual and access to the BPO & REO forum will need to be purchased separately and will not be included in the hourly fee.A deposit will be required up-front to ensure securing your place within the currently scheduled classes. The remaining payment will need to be paid at the beginning of the class session.

 

Let Me Open Your Eyes into the Exciting World Beyond Doing Real Estate Sales Alone!

You can reach me at: 360-223-2482

Email me at:
sales@nicoleocean.com

LEARN MORE ABOUT NICOLE

 

How Being a Real Estate Assistant Has Prepared Me for the Future

After college, my goal is to go into the mass communications/journalism field. I originally wanted to be a TV Broadcaster like Katie Couric, but I’ve been told my voice is too high-pitched. (Oh well…starting broadcasters have to live in the middle of nowhere anyway and I don’t want that ) Then I decided I wanted to work as a reporter for a newspaper, but my experience on the college newspaper has changed my mind about that- I wouldn’t be able to deal with the intense deadlines and working into the wee hours of the night to get a story done. Plus, I want to be able to have a life outside of my work, and I’ve heard that is very difficult when you are a beginning reporter. So, I’ve changed my mind again, and currently I hope to go into public relations or marketing communications. Next I’ll probably want to be a magazine editor or a celebrity photographer…who knows?

Whatever path I chose to take in the field of journalism and mass communications though, I have found that my job as an assistant for Nicole has actually been very beneficial for my major and career goals. I find that I have the opportunity to do a lot of writing and even some editing at work. I’ve learned a lot about research, sourcing and marketing from helping Nicole with her e-books. I have even helped to transcribe tapes before, which gives me great practice for taking notes quickly, which comes in very handy during interviews.

In addition to preparation for my career goals, the job has given me a peek into the world of real estate and book writing, and a glimpse into what it is like to be your own boss (something I think I would definately enjoy ). So whichever path I end up taking, whether I become the next editor of Seventeen Magazine or I have a change of heart and go into selling homes, I will always be thankful for the wonderful opportunity Nicole has given me and the amazing array of things that I have learned!

A Day in the Life of Nicole’s Assistant

As an assitant for Nicole, I generally work three days a week out of her home office, and sometimes from my dorm room as well. Nicole generally has comps pulled by the time I arrive, so I usually start my day by entering subject and comp data into the BPO forms. A lot of people find this tedious, but I really enjoy data entry for some reason. It generally takes me between 30 minutes and 1 hour to do the data entry for each BPO, depending on which company the BPO is for (some companies, like Countrywide, have a much easier form than other companies). I usually upload photos for the BPOs after Nicole has taken them as well.

Most days, Nicole is working on other projects in addition to doing BPOs. Sometimes she will ask me to update an email list database or the payment log. Other times, I will help her out with a little bit of research for an e-book she is working on or help by organizing files.

The job is perfect for me, as Nicole is flexible and allows me to work around my school schedule, and I love what I do. It has been incredibly interesting to learn about real estate and properties around the area. I understand so much more about the housing market and buying and selling property. Being from an area south of Bellingham, the job has also helped me to get a feel for the area around me.  

This job is definately one that gets me excited in the morning. I love learning new things, facing new challenges and tasks, and entering data. And Nicole always adds fun stories and great food to make a great work experience even better!

Top Secret Way to Find More Broker Price Opinion work by Nicole Ocean

I wanted to recommend a great way to find more BPO work that not many BPO Vendors even know about. This is by logging into companies that offer a button where they can click on it to, “Get More Work,” or “Find Work.” This is the title that many of the companies use within their website.

As an extra BONUS I’ll mention some of the companies that offer this feature are:

EML

LandAm

BPO Direct (they now do not do BPO’s directly, they go through LSI and Clear Capital)

Countrywide

HAM

Proteck

If you’d like to keep adding to this list, that would be great!

Enjoy and best of luck to you,

 Nicole Ocean

 nicolesdreams eBooks & nicolesdreams eBooks Consulting

 www.nicoleocean.com

 www.nicolesdreamsebooks.com

Why Do Broker Price Opinions? by Nicole Ocean

Doing Broker Price Opinion work has so many advantages within your real estate career. I wanted to list a few key advantages to doing this type of work in comparision to working the traditional angles of concentrating on the Real Estate sales side of the business.

Doing Broker Price Opinions has:
 1. Helped bring in a consistent, steady stream of income
 2. Helped me stay in the Real Estate field
 3. Providing me with opportunities to educate myself on many areas of my business.
 4. Kept me in the market everyday as I drive around taking photos of various properties. This way I am always learning about what is available, the new developments, the price ranges, what is in pre-foreclosure, a tax lien property, a short sale and a foreclosure, etc.
 5. Provided me with an opportunity to be in line to be eligible to receive REO (Real Estate Owned, Bank Owned) listings.
 6. Opened my eyes into the foreclosure and investment market
 7. Assisted my in becoming stronger on valuing properties which in turn helps me produce better BPO reports as well as helps me value potential listings that I have an opportunity to help sell.
 8. Made me look forward to the potential to enjoy a stable, fulfilling and rewarding career within real estate, which I hope will last for many years to come.

I can finally say that, “I truly LOVE my life and Love My Career!” How about you?
 
 Warmly,
 Nicole Ocean
 Realtor/BPO Specialist/Owner of nicolesdreams eBooks
 www.nicoleocean.com
360-223-2482

Not Getting Enough Broker Price Opinion Work? A few reasons why…by Nicole Ocean

I was just catching up on the posting within my blog this afternoon and wanted to address some very important points that I mention to others when they email or call asking for advice.

If you don’t get business right away or are not getting enough business, it could be because of a number of factors. Within the last few years many agents, brokers and appraisers have jumped on board and started doing BPO’s and some have gotten REO’s. Plus, as many of you are well aware of the foreclosure rate throughout the nation has increased, in some areas it has started to drive the local market (I don’t know about you but the foreclosure rate has jumped up from this time last year and short sales are a common, more cost effective alternative to foreclosure in my area of being in Bellingham, Washington).

With this trend a few things have happened. More companies have gotten tighter on their new vendor application process & requirements for new BPO/REO Vendors wanting to get into the business. Some companies have even stopped accepting new vendors because they have enough quality agents already.

Another sad but true reality is that the fees that companies offer to do a BPO have decreased. I’ve seen the downhill shift occur personally and accept it as part of being in this business. I look at it as just needing to do more volume and work like heck to consistently provide good quality orders so that the favor is returned to me by means of having all the work I could ever hope and ask for.

Within any segment of real estate we are driven to a certain degree by having to deal with competitors and having to work really hard for the business that we get. The same applies to BPO & REO work.

One site I recommend people checking out to learn who their competitors are and how many of them are doing BPO & likely REO work is:

www.reonetwork.com

They have a search feature where you can put in your city, state and zip code and then do a radius search. You will be able to find out the top REO listing agents (Most times they pay to be featured as a Premier Partner and stand out from the crowd by being placed at the top of the page). You can read their profiles and see who they work for and many times how long they have been in the business. You can also take this info and go to your local MLS. I’d recommend doing a search on any of the people listed to see how much REO business they are currently getting.

Then mirror who they are working for, where they are signed up (websites to promote themselves), etc.

This will help you understand the amount of work that is being shared in your area, plus you will learn a lot by watching your competitors to see how they do what they do and who they work for.

Plus, the only real way to get more work is to be proactive, just like you would do in your real estate sales side of your business. It’s all about building relationships! In the case of BPO/REO work it is super important to build relationships with lenders, asset managers and reps as well as be able to provide something that others cannot do as well as you….and on a consistent basis!

When you do get orders, knock them out of the ball park and beat your deadlines! Also, if you can avoid having your orders stopped by the Quality Review team then you should be able to get more work.

Remember the amount of work available to you depends on a few outside factors. Competition, amount of work available, your vendor rating with each company you receive BPO’s from, the fee you charge and being able to stay out of trouble with the company. (a.k.a. quick turn around times, meeting the deadlines they give you, being consistent, picking good comps, providing accurate values, keeping your orders out of QA (Quality Assurance) and overall just by providing outstanding orders. Who wouldn’t want to give you more work if you meet all of those expectations?

On an end note, the more companies you sign up with, the more you increase your chances of gaining work. Also, if you do not hear back from them in a while or even right away after signing up with them, then pick up the phone, introduce yourself to them and ask if there is anything else they need from you (W-9, a copy of your real estate license)….start building that relationship!

Hope this helps you understand more about why you have to work really hard in this business to get work, then the key is to work even harder to keep it and make everyone happy in the process!

Best to you all!

Nicole Ocean

BPO Trainer/Realtor/eBook Author & Consultant

www.nicoleocean.com

www.nicolesdreamsebooks.com