Company Helps Real Estate Agents Make The Most Of A Down Housing Market

With foreclosures at an all-time high, real estate agents can still be successful with REO work. The Virtual Assistants at VirtuallyAchieved.com register real estate agents with Lenders and Banks around the country who need agents to help sell foreclosed homes.

“Our job is to get agents in the database and make them look good,” said Jerri Palumbo, owner of Virtually Achieved. “We physically register each agent with banks, lenders, and asset managers around the country.”

When homes go into foreclosures, banks and lenders need to sell the homes fast. Since banks don’t employ real estate agents, they have to find local agents in the area to sell the house. By referencing the database of agents eager to work with them, banks find a ready resource listing multiple qualified real estate agents.

Virtually Achieved registers real estate agents with hundreds of lenders and asset managers. Virtually Achieved reviews an agent’s resume, experience, and education ensuring the best information gets to the lenders.

“Agents like to be registered every few months to keep their information at the top of the companies’ databases or try to get noticed by companies that have not contacted them,” said Kim Giraffa, Senior Project Manager at Virtually Achieved.

According to Frank Patrick, founder of REO Renegades, an estimated 8-10 million loans will fall into foreclosure in the next five years. Each of these properties will become a Real Estate Owned property, or REOs; each property needs an agent to sell it. The lenders also need Broker Price Opinions, or BPOs, where a real estate agent estimates the probable selling price of a real estate property or house. Both REOs and BPOs are valuable to real estate agents. BPOs might only net $50-$100 each, but that can quickly add up to major profits.

When a lender chooses an agent to do a Broker Price Opinion, they now have a relationship with an agent and are more likely to choose this agent to sell the same property. The agent lists and sells the property earning a commission.

Virtually Achieved has a history of helping real estate agents grow their business. Giraffa stated, “We have heard many success stories and have had agents get orders before the registration is complete.”

“There are so many foreclosures in the market right now,” Palumbo added. “It’s, unfortunately a hot industry, but for real estate agents it can be gold.”

by Jerri Palumbo