When agents or appraisers doing BPOs get in a hurry they typically cut corners. One common thing we and lenders have noticed is, the distances from the subject to the comparables is sometimes guessed or made up. Instead of me going on and on about how unethical this is let’s focus on the positive solutions. When inputting the distances use: http://maps.google.com/, http://maps.live.com/, or http://www.mapquest.com/.

It makes us all look bad when the lender or investment company catches it.

These are all free web sites that we use regularly.

Derivatives in any business are important in having any type of longevity. What are derivatives? They are the other things that happen from doing your core business. For example, agents who do BPOs for a living typically get asked to take listings which are easy since they’re typically hands off and are shown via a lock box. Another spin-off or derivative is property management which is a growing business especially in today’s market. Agents that have good relationships with handyman, contractors, locksmiths and other tradesman usually excel in this. Local real estate schools have classes on property management which entails rent collection, landlord tenant laws and financial statements. These classes look great on a resume. Agents who can stay diversified in these areas can weather any storm. Companies like Google and Microsoft know this business concept probably better than anyone.