Matt Kofsky's (mattkofsky) Blog

Short sales are interesting.  Because the seller cannot collect any money, they are listing houses at ridiculous prices in order to get action.  So we have phony listings. I recently did an interior bpo.  The agent met me at the property and handed me a copy of the offer.  She told me it was a lo...

The value of your house has probably gone down.  Mine did, a lot.  I got my bill for my homeowner's insurance.   It was still at the old higher value.  I called my insurance agent and reduced the value of my policy.  I am still 100% covered and have extra money in my pocket. 

One of my pet peeves is BPO software.  As an old computer programmer, some of the errors drive me crazy.  One wouldn't let me enter in 02/29/2008 as a sold date.    Others make you bracket the comps based on sold comps.  With their permission, I've gone 60 miles away in order to do this. Others w...

While doing BPOs, I am finding some unusual pricing for short sales.  One property I was doing a BPO on was a short sale.  It was in a two year old building.  It was a 2 bedroom condo listed at $125,000.  What was unusual is that 1 bedroom condos in the building were listed at $130,000.  All of t...

How many of you are doing time adjustments in BPOs.  If the market is decline 10% a year and your comps are 6 months old.  do you take 5% off of the comp price?  In real numbers, the house comps at $300,000 and there have been no sales for six months, do you price the homes at $285,000? 

I work for many different BPO companies.  I did a BPO for one company.  The sold comps were for $252,000, $260,000 and $265,000.  The listed comps were for $230,000, $235,000, and $239,000.   I said to list the home for $250,000 and expect to sell it for about $240,000 depending on the interior c...

Does turning down a BPO give you a lower rating?  I have turned down BPOs that are a four hour drive away.  I have turned down BPOs that are not in my MLS.  But I find it very hard to turn down a BPO in my normal area.  Right now, between clients and BPOs and other family obligations, I am over b...

What do you do when you are filling out a BPO and there is a question that you don't know the answer to and there is no good way to find out?  For example, the BPO asks for what per cent of this neighborhood is owner occupied and it is a mandatory field.   For some homes that is a easy number to ...

I seem to be getting more and more "Please update the status of the BPO" calls and emails. I accepted a BPO at 9 a.m. this morning.  At 9:30, I get a phone call asking for a status update.On Wednesday at 9 am, I accepted a BPO due on Monday.  No problem.  At 10:30 I received a phone call asking i...

I recently saw a listing which had the following comments:  "You will not believe this house.  Everything has been remolded.  We did the kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms, etc.  This house is amazing."  I have been picturing the owner going through the house with a hose to make sure that everything is ...