Does your REO Agent pass the SMELL Test?!

I recently was amazed at the shabby way our offer was handled by a well-branded Silicon Valley Real Estate company that I started thinking about why banks trust their precious REO listings to these incompetent agents!!? This agent claimed he had NOT seen my offer that I personally dropped at his office after meeting with him few minutes earlier the same day!! We met him at his office to drop off the offer which we did after discussing it with him. It sat in his in-box for 4 days and he was claiming he had not seen it!!

So, I am thinking there should be a "SMELL TEST" to distinguish an ordinary agent from the one's who will perform exceptionally. Specially since this guy has 30 active REO listing and 30 closes per month!! Hence, my attempt to identify Top 10 questions that REO Asset Mangers could pose to REO Agents before assigning their next REO. Drum roll, please....

1) What's the Marketing Plan for moving this REO!? Most REO Agents just post on MLS and forget about it. I was listing our REO condo in the CraigsList in Dubai and we were able to close in record 45 days!! This market calls for Gorilla Marketing since there is too much supply.

2) How many current REOs are you servicing? This agent claims 30 active REO listings, 25 in escrow and 30 closes per month! How does he prioritize them!?

3) How many people are working full time dedicated to REO listing and sales in your office!?

4) How many Open House you have held for your existing REO listings in the past month? Ask them to provide MLS output for the posted Open House scheduled.

5) Are you staging your vacant properties?! If not, why not!? I am amazed to find the condition of some of the REO listings and it's no wonder that City and County Organizations are now involved with these neighborhood plights.

6) Do you have a maintenance and property management team that's routinely managing these REO listings?

7) Do you have a billing system for submitting invoices to Asset Managers? Less time an agent spends on paperwork, more time they will have to market the REO listing?
8) Do you have lead capture system and are you communicating the REO listing to these leads? How often and how do you measure the success of these communications?

9) Can you provide References from the Asset Managers that were working with our on your previous REOs!? We can provide Asset Managers, their Assistants, Title reps......etc who enjoy working with us on REOs.

10) What motivates you?! Look for answers above and beyond MONEY cause this is a Channel business which requires a tag-team approach to get deals closed.

As the famous saying goes, "ask and you may receive"!