optionBPO.com

What is a BPO?

2009-11-25T11:37:00.002-07:00

Broker Price Opinion (BPO): When banks and lenders need an accurate, and fast home value a BPO is their number one choice.

If you are thinking of buying, selling, or refinancing you can get a licensed Realtor to price your home for a fraction of the cost of an appraisal.

Are you sure you know your home's value?

2009-05-21T10:15:00.000-06:00

This is a true captivating story from Florida, and I hope you'll enjoy it. The moral of the story is simple: not all Realtors or Appraisers are capable of determining the true value of a home, as you can see in the story, the second Realtor completely exaggerated the value of the home to obtain a listing, while the first Realtor was right the first time, she had no "problem" readjusting the price and listing the home for more after she was instructed to do so by the sellers. Comments by Home Appraisal Expert

Newlyweds Harold and Patty inherited a condominium in nearby Baker Towers on Florida’s Intracoastal Waterway when her father passed away. With no interest in keeping the condo as a getaway or for investment, the couple decided to sell the property and apply the proceeds towards the purchase of a bigger and more luxurious home for themselves, one a lot nicer than the townhome they were renting. They selected Betty B. from Betty’s Better Realty to list the condominium. Her market analysis showed that it should be listed at $350,000, and she obtained a 4-month listing agreement at that price.
After the full four months went by without a single offer, the listing expired, but the discouraged sellers agreed that Betty could still market the property while they weighed their options. Two weeks later, a man who lives in the building -- Realtor Ted of Baker Island Realty -- showed clients Ralph and Sally the condo. They were thrilled with it and quickly made a full-price offer, which Harold and Patty gratefully accepted on November 5th. A closing was set for December 10, and all the necessary paperwork was being prepared. A survey was done, an inspection was completed, title work was under way, the mortgage application was nearly approved, and the appraisal was ordered.
Then, on December 1, as if the gods were playing tricks on poor mortals, Sandy, another Realtor from Baker Island Realty, knocked on Harold and Patty’s door. She sweetly inquired if they would like her to create a free market analysis on their home. “No thank you, we’re only renting. But can you make one up for our condo at Baker Towers?” They did not tell her it was already under contract.
Sally returned the next day with the market analysis in hand. It concluded that the fair market price for their condo was not $350,000…not $450,000…but $490,000! Harold and Patty were stunned. The two of them excitedly talked things over and concluded that at $350,000, they were simply giving the condo away. So they made a really eventful decision. Feeling both smug and righteous, they called their agent, Betty with these instructions, “Tell the buyers that we are cancelling the sale, return their deposit, and put the condo back on the market at $500,000.”
Believe it or not, Realtor Betty dutifully did as she was told and the whole thing was called off. But what did the buyers do when they got the news? Did Ralph and Sally simply take it on the chin and walk away when they heard the news? No, they hired attorney Mark, who soon filed a suit for Specific Performance against the sellers. By initiating this type of lawsuit, the plaintiffs (Ralph and Sally) were requesting that the court order the defendants (Harold and Patty) to fulfill the terms of the sales contract and sign over the deed, like it or not. “Oh yes, you have to pay our legal fees, too.” After they were served, it was Harold and Patty’s turn to be outraged, and they hired attorney Marcia to both defend themselves and to counter sue, claiming that the buyers and their Realtor conspired to cheat them out of $140,000, the difference between the full asking price they had accepted and the “true value” of Dad’s condo. After all the discovery was done and costly depositions taken of all the parties, Attorney Marcia contacted me for help in prosecuting her case against the buyers and against Realtor Ted in particular. She sent me several hundreds of pages to study, which I did over the course of a few days. I then formed my expert opinion and presented it to Marcia at a meeting in her Daytona office.
“Your clients should settle,” I advised. “Neither the buyers nor their Realtor did anything illegal or unethical in this transaction.” In my opinion, the only questionable behaviors, I continued, were shown by the sellers who thought they could simply walk away from a binding contract without consequences. And by Realtor Betty, whose professional duty was to resist Harold and Patty’s requests, urge them to honor their contractual obligations, and advise them to immediately seek legal counsel if they persisted in wanting out of the deal. So, even though I was not hired to help the buyers and Realtor Ted, I felt they acted ethically and honestly and should not be on the hook. Prologue. According to Attorney Marcia, the buyers won their case on appeal, but by then, they were disgusted and no longer wanted the apartment. They walked away with a hefty cash settlement from the sellers, an amount which included legal fees and expenses. The sellers also paid to settle with Baker Island Realty. Harold and Patty obtained all their settlement money through a home equity loan on Dad’s condo, which they now occupy.
And if you’re wondering whether the true value was $350,000 or $500,000, think about this. The condo was on the market at $350k for four months without a nibble. If the real value were close to $500k, it would have been sold within a day or two after it hit the MLS. So Realtor Sally’s estimate was way too high. The sellers didn’t think it through and let greed push aside reason. That happens a lot.
Although this story is based on an actual case, all the names and some of the circumstances were changed to protect the identity of the parties.
The Author: Larry Lowenthal

Pricing

2008-11-25T10:26:00.003-07:00

To view our sample report please click here

Standard Report: 24 hour turn around time, and no visit to the property is required. $50.00

Same day Standard Report: Report will be emailed before midnight that same day, reports received after 7PM will be send before noon the next day. $100.00

Premium Report: An appointment to visit the property is required, for a more accurate value assessment. $150.00

Larger packages are available for additional savings and they expire one year from purchase date. (See the PayPal drop-down menu)

At this time we only serve the following counties in Colorado: Denver, Arapahoe, Douglas, Jefferson, Elbert, and Adams.

Place An Order

2008-11-25T10:05:00.004-07:00

Please contact us if you need larger or a special service. To view our sample report please click here

Standard Report: 24 hour turn around time, and no visit to the property is required.
Same day Standard Report: Report will be emailed before midnight that same day, reports received after 7PM will be send before noon the next day.
Premium Report: An appointment to visit the property is required, for a more accurate value assessment.
Larger packages are available for additional savings and they expire one year from purchase date.

At this time we only serve the following counties in Colorado: Denver, Arapahoe, Douglas, Jefferson, Elbert, and Adams.

Sample Report

2008-11-24T15:32:00.000-07:00

Click Here to access a sample report.
Please Keep in mind that your report might be slightly different since we manually prepare every document, with latest data and trends.

FAQ

2008-05-21T09:43:00.017-06:00

What kind of services do you provide?
What is Broker Price Opinion (BPO)?
What is the difference between an appraisal and a BPO?
What is the difference between a CMA and a BPO?
Why do I need a BPO?
What services do you provide for Lenders, Banks, or Mortgage Companies?
What is the difference between a BPO and Zillow?
Can I preview my homes value report?
Can I share this report with my lender or Realtor?
What areas do you serve?
Do you work with FSBO?
Can I use your report instead of an appraisal?
What if I do not like the report?

What kind of services do you provide? We provide you with honest, accurate and fast opinion about homes values in Metro Denver

What is Broker Price Opinion (BPO)? A BPO is a report detailing the value of your home. We include:
- History of previous sales from the MLS
- Legal description, tax, and recorded information from the county assessor's office
- A list of comparable sales
- Detailed information about each individual comparable home
- Statistics about the comparables including date of sale, days on the market, list price, sold price, net price (sold price minus concessions), $/SqFeet analysis
- Statistics about your MLS area with active listings and sale trends
- A list of expired and withdrawn listings
- We provide you with a complete report about your homes value

What is the difference between an appraisal and a BPO? An appraisal is performed by a licensed appraiser and is used as an official document by a lending institution to determine a homes value. The lender usually orders an appraisal (a homeowner can also order an appraisal directly from an appraiser, but it is not usually honored by a lender since most mortgage providers require their own appraisers to provide the service) this step can take between few days and few weeks from the day of the order. The average appraisal costs between $390 and $700 and is limited to 5 comparables.
A BPO is performed by a licensed Realtor and is used solely for informational purposes, for the benefit of: the buyer, seller, home owner or lender... The Realtor does not usually visit the property (we can visit the home and provide a more accurate opinion if needed). This service has a turn around time of 24 hours and costs a fraction of the cost of a certified appraisal.

What is the difference between a CMA and a BPO? A standard CMA is performed by a realtor or a member of their team for the purpose of providing an added service to the client. If a CMA is prepared correctly by a neutral and expert Realtor, then the results of the report should be very similar to the results of our BPO. However since most CMA's are performed for the purpose of selling or buying a home; there is an inherent bias in the opinion of the realtor. If the CMA is prepared for the purpose of listing a home, some Realtors feel pressured to artificially raise the value of the home in the hope to please the home owner into favoring them. When the CMA (I should say "IF" since most Realtors simply bypass this step) is prepared for the purpose of buying a home, the Realtor again is bias in wanting to make sure that they found an excellent deal and therefore may help the value just a little bit.
Why are we so different?

1- you are paying us to provide you with a service and we do not care who you list your home with.

2- We make sure your are informed with the latest and the most accurate information possible.
3- We are expert in home evaluation and are better at it than most.

Why do I need a BPO? If you are a buyer, a BPO report will help you save thousands by avoiding an overpriced home and making sure you are paying fair market value for your next house.
If you are a seller, a BPO report will help set the right price that will sell your home fast, and avoid over or under pricing your home.
If you are a home owner looking to refinance, a BPO report can help avoid wasting money and time on an appraisal of your home, if there is a chance that you may owe more money on the home than it's worth.

What services do you provide for Lenders, Banks, or Mortgage Companies? With the new VA / FHA (even conventional loans) regulations, lenders have no direct access to the appraisers anymore, and in order for a lender to challenge an appraisal, they need a BPO report detailing and justifying the value of a property. Lenders can use our services if they are not sure about the value of a home (the owner is upside-down) and they want to avoid wasting money on an appraisal.
We also provide BPO services for the purpose of the sale of a bank owned home, or during a foreclosure, bankruptcy or a short sale
We also work with law firms handling divorce procedures for the purpose of properly evaluating a home, and the cost of selling a home.

What is the difference between a BPO and Zillow? Zillow is an automated software that attempts to come up with a value based on the law of averages. We think that Zillow and others like it, do an outstanding job, giving that they do not have access to the information on the MLS and rely solely on county records and individual inputs. However the value on Zillow can be "off "by as much as 30% specially in areas with many remodels or areas with limited county records.
Our reports are prepared by a professional and expert Realtor in your area, who manually looks at the data and analyses it to come up with the most accurate result possible.

Can I preview my homes value report? Since all the data gathering is performed after the order is placed, it is not possible for us to provide you with a peak at the report. You can however look at a sample report by clicking here

Can I share this report with my lender or Realtor? We email you the report and you can share it with anyone you want
(we can also mail you the report for an extra fee)

What areas do you serve? We serve the following counties: Denver, Arapahoe, Adams, Jefferson, Douglas, and Elbert
If you require a report outside the above listed areas, please contact us

Do you work with FSBO? Our services are perfect for "for sale by owner" since we can provide you with unbiased expert analysis of your home's value. You can furthermore use our report to justify and advertise your asking price.
If you are interested in buying a home from a FSBO it is also wise to order our report, since most FSBO are "emotionally" pricing their home and have little knowledge of the real value of the home.

Can I use your report instead of an appraisal? No, an appraisal is the only form accepted by and mortgage institution. Our report is a Realtor Expert Opinion, and is only prepared for the benefit of the person ordering it.

What if I do not like the report? If our report is not accurate, or if we used incomparable data to analyze your home, or if we are not able to find sufficient information to come up with a complete report: We will simply refund 100% of you money

Contact Information

2008-05-21T09:36:00.003-06:00

Homes And People

8200 S. Quebec ST. Suite A3-305

Centennial, CO 80112

303-249-2060

saber (at) homesandpeople.com

http://www.homesandpeople.com