Yesterday I attended the Bank of America REO/Short-Sale seminar for agents on their preferred list.

They haven’t sent me a new REO listing in about a year, so I thought I better attend, just in case it improves my chances.

They mentioned that they’ve cut 1,200 agents from the list already, and expect to trim it down another 1,000 and end up with fewer than 4,000 preferred realtors nationwide. Uh-oh.

Bank of America’s REO and Short-Sale Seminar highlights

1. Just 18 months ago, Bank of America was acquiring 16,000 properties per month through foreclosure.  Today their count is 3,000 to 4,500 per month.  There were a variety of reasons given for the dropoff:

  • The mortgage settlements caused it.
  • Loan modifications.
  • They are selling off servicing rights when mortgages go 60 days late.

He admitted that there are probably a lot of people who are living for free.

2.  Foreclosure volume is predicted to be FLAT over the next year or two.

3.  Once foreclosed, their goal is to dispose of the property within 180 days. Last year the average was 210 days.

4.  The bank’s public website that displays properties for sale will have a “coming soon” section where readers can preview new listings. (This site has never been updated frequently so don’t get your hopes up).

5.  They are open to selling tenant-occupied properties to investors.  Because they see so many cash offers, rather than wasting time and money on evictions, they will consider investor offers in advance that keep the occupants in the home.

6. Out of the other side of their mouth, it was stated clearly that asset managers will not respond to offers until the property has been on the MLS for five days.

7.  Bank of America expects to sell or transfer 2,000,000 properties this year.

8.  They solicited 15,000 defaulting homeowners last year with the pre-approved short-sale program, offering up to $30,000 in incentives.  Only one of eight homeowners took them up on it.

9. They solicited 2,000 defaulting homeowners to accept a deed-for-lease program, and only eleven homeowners agreed (where the homeowner signs over ownership and leases back).

10.  Their average short-sale-approval time is 43 days.

11.  Fraud is found in 23% of short sales.

12.  They have a pilot program underway to sell short-sales through Auction.com.  The seller still gets an incentive to participate, and realtors are involved.  The properties are offered with a pre-determined reserve price, but at least the auctions will take the buyer-selection process out of the listing agent’s hands.

There were no promises or even hints of increased production – but they say that they want to hurry up the process.  The phrase, “think outside the box” was said at least a dozen times, but many of us were skeptical that any major chances were coming.

Pin It on Pinterest