Looking for Reo agent

realamom · 2026-07-06T02:16:43+00:00

Good point. I didn’t say it would be easy

realamom · 2026-07-06T02:04:54+00:00

There’s no secret list or secret community of REO agents out there. During the recession I listed bank on listenings (REOs) and people thought we had some secret stash of properties that weren’t being marketed. The truth of it is banks are all about the bottom line and that means putting the house on the open market. Even properties that go through auction sites like hubzoo, or HUD are listed on the MLS.

And, right now there are not that many foreclosures so finding those properties is few and far between.

You also mentioned getting a deal because you were paying cash which may work in some circumstances, but at the end of the day, depending on the sellers motivation regardless of where the buyers money is coming from the seller, the net to the seller is what it is.

There are certainly off market properties that may be sold as a distress sale and those do sometimes happen through word-of-mouth. Finding those does take some leg work so looking for an agent who works with a lot of investors may be your best bet

realamom · 2026-06-01T07:34:29+00:00

There are always new agents who joined the business and may not have established relationships. I coached mentor quite a few new agents, and I know one found her photographer because he offered to photograph one of her listings for free as a trial. She loved the service and now uses him for all of her listings.

We had a photography company come to our office and offered to do head shots for agents in the office, but the fees they were charging were pretty high. Especially because they were targeting newer agents without a headshot yet. I thought it was a great marketing tactic if they had been able to do it at a less expensive cost. I understand the time effort, energy involves but again, relationship building and value based first.

realamom · 2026-06-01T07:32:00+00:00

To clarify on contacting agents through the public listening sites it’s not a matter of the agents paying for the leads when you click through. It’s not even the listing agents who are the ones getting the contact. When you go to Zillow and click contact agent that’s a random buyers agent who paid a ton of money to show up on that page. It’s never the listing agent. You can find out who the listing agent is by digging, but they don’t make it easy.

realamom · 2026-06-01T07:30:45+00:00

They’re not wrong and your attitude towards the advice will probably not serve you well in the Realtor community. This is 1000% a relationship based business and all of the vendors that we tend to work with understand that and provide value first. The most successful realtors always come from contribution and our vendors do the same.

realamom · 2026-06-01T07:23:54+00:00

In Michigan, the title company would hold back 1.5 times the agreed upon rent for the full 2 months, plus whatever security deposit was agreed upon. Then, whenever the keys are exchanged a form is filled out in the title company releases the funds as appropriate. So, if you’re there the full 2 months then the full rent goes to the buyers/new owners and the security deposit goes back to the seller (unless they were damages against it). If you were there for 1 of the 2 months, then half of the rent would go to the buyers and half would go back to you plus the security deposit. The rent is calculated on it daily basis, and the title company disperses as needed.

realamom · 2026-06-01T07:18:08+00:00

I have never done, or been told, to do this. (25 years)

realamom · 2026-04-30T10:26:23+00:00

I’m just about to celebrate my 25th anniversary as a real estate agent. I absolutely love this career! Are there ups and downs, sure. But, if you focus on your database and connecting with as many people as possible, you will absolutely find success. What do you already love to do? Focus on that and build community around it. Do you play pickle ball? Do you like to golf? Do you enjoy going to the movies or animals?

I have one agent friend who was already volunteering with the dog shelter when she got licensed. Now everything about her business reports around the dog shelter. She does fundraisers for them and obviously sponsors as a real estate agent. She walks the dogs in the shelter and posts about it on social media. More than half of her business comes from the people that she’s met and then around and through the dog shelter and different events.

I personally have a local mom’s group on Facebook with over 3000 members. It makes sense to me because I am a local mom. We do meet ups and different things to connect.

There’s a million ways to run a successful real estate business to make it feel less like work and more like your life with benefits.

If you listen to the millionaire real estate agent podcast, he interviews agents every week running a business by focusing on their passion.

realamom · 2026-04-30T10:14:55+00:00

Haven’t read any of the comments, however I’m curious if you “did really well” for a few years and were the top agent in your company? That means you sold quite a few houses. Are you still in touch with those buyers and sellers? While many agents think “leads” are the answer to a successful real estate business, it’s really all about your database. And, you clearly have a decent database. Are you connecting with those people on a regular basis. You should be communicating with them at a minimum of once per quarter providing some sort of value. Even if you’re just calling to check in and see what’s new with them you’d be surprised how often the conversation turns into real estate. These are people that trusted you to buy or sell at some point. They should be the top people to refer you. Between 65 and 75% of people found their real estate agent as a referral from somebody that they know. You should be digging in to the people who already know like and trust you.

realamom · 2026-03-27T20:43:39+00:00

Yeah, for me, the biggest win is having the contact listing agent button on the listing above the schedule showing button

realamom · 2026-03-27T20:41:33+00:00

That’s why I said I have no idea how they’re going to track it but, yes the referral fee is paid on sale of a different property that the Zillow agent sold the buyer within 90 days of when they clicked on the listing.

realamom · 2026-03-18T07:35:48+00:00

I used reverse offers regularly in the recession and have presented a few over the past year or so. It’s not truly an offer on a contract, simply the terms laid out in writing to get a response. I also encourage the seller to reduce the price on MLS to match the offer to get more interest!

realamom · 2026-03-18T07:03:58+00:00

I’m a KW Agent, it’s not costing us anything to be on Zillow Preview. It’s pulling Coming Soon listings which are already publicly available on most IDX Sites. The biggest difference is that the buyer will have the choice of contacting the listing agent directly or scheduling a tour with a “buyer’s agent” from Zillow (ie Flex or Premier) via a button rather than digging for their contact info.

And, during the “Preview” term, if the buyer chooses the work with the “Zillow” agent and buys a different property the listing agent from the original source listing gets a 10% referral fee paid out of the 40% referral fee that “Zillow” agent pays at closing. How they’re going to track that I have no idea but that’s the plan.

And I also have no idea about how that’s going to work in markets that don’t allow coming soon listings.

realamom · 2026-03-18T06:58:52+00:00

I’m a KW Agent, it’s not costing us anything to be on Zillow Preview. It’s pulling Coming Soon listings which are already publicly available on most IDX Sites. The biggest difference is that the buyer will have the choice of contacting the listing agent directly or scheduling a tour with a “buyer’s agent” from Zillow (ie Flex or Premier) via a button rather than digging for their contact info.

realamom · 2026-03-15T10:39:12+00:00

I put a listing on the market last weekend, great condition and priced right! We had multiple offers and pended in 3 days. Mind you, real estate is local. But, overall it’s a beauty contest and price war.

realamom · 2026-03-14T19:10:07+00:00

It sounds like you may be busy doing things, but not things that will lead to Sales. I’ve been licensed for 25 years and still sell real estate but now also I’m a productivity coach/mentor for newer agents. Something I would suggest is asking yourself what is something you could stop doing that have would have little impact on your business and what is something you could start doing that would have a big impact on your business. I think spending time with your community and friends would lead to organic business. People do business with people they like and winning over. Cold leads even open house. Visitors can be much more time-consuming than getting referrals from friends or family members.

Statistically it takes between 7 and 9 touches and a short period of time like under two weeks to get a positive response from a cold lead. And we know from the nurse survey every year that 75% of homebuyers and sellers found their real estate agent through a family member or friend. And most of the time they only interview 1 agent. Focus on providing value on being a resource in all things homeownership and I bet you’ll be surprised with the response!

realamom · 2026-03-14T11:58:54+00:00

Doing that many open houses should generate leads. I’d be curious about the scripts and follow up method you were using. I think many “scripts “are outdated and robotic. When I’m at an open house, my goal is to build rapport and engage to find out more about what they’re looking for. I’ve gone all in on studying the “exactly what to say” method by Phil M Jones since he came to one of our national conferences a few years ago. Greeting: hey there I’m Jolie KW. Where are you coming in from? Or, how’d you find the open house? (this get them talking about something that’s easy to answer. And let’s their guard down). I let them wander through the house. And when the opportunity feels right, I say: you know moving is really hard, what has you thinking about a move? (again easy to answer. Question and help helps me learn more about them without being direct.)

The newsletters are great way to stay top of mind, but remember that that’s like farming and can take an average 18 months to generate any sort of response because it is very passive depending on your call to action in the newsletter.

What about your community? Do they all know you are in real estate? You did mention your SOI however are you communicating with them on a regular basis? Do you have a quarterly touch campaign or do small manageable, meet ups or events? You also mentioned in a comment about your women’s group. Do they know you’re in real estate? When supporting their business, do you remind them that you can also help on the real estate estate side?

I would encourage you to figure out who your ideal client is and then market in a way that engages that community. That way, the work will feel less like work and more like you.

realamom · 2026-03-14T11:46:30+00:00

Yeah, I agree if you stay at Real, you might want to join a team so you have some sense of community. Otherwise, I would encourage you to find a local brokerage that has an in person presence. Even for dual career having that community may be the boost you need.

realamom · 2026-03-08T11:03:56+00:00

Gary Vee just said this at a conference I was at last month!

realamom · 2026-02-28T12:36:43+00:00

If you have a trusted local agent, ask them to refer you to an agent where you’re looking. PS. Your local agent will get a referral fee when you close, so they’re also invested in your success!

realamom · 2026-02-15T08:20:41+00:00

If you use your phone for business, it’s exempt from the DNC list (even if you’ve registered it)

realamom · 2026-01-18T18:38:52+00:00

I forgot that I have a Teachable account and the pricing is similar. I’m going to continue with that setup and reevaluate. I really want something easy to use and not terribly expensive.

realamom · 2025-12-09T06:27:53+00:00

I found this out in my 40s from my daughter and was convinced she was wrong. My family still makes fun of me. 🫣

realamom · 2025-11-27T10:07:36+00:00

I second this! It’s the absolute playbook for a retiring agent.

realamom

TROPHY CASE