BPO Flow for Real Estate Agents

I’ve been in real estate since May of 2016 and since June of 2017, I have completed 172 Broker Price Opinions.  I created a part time job out of BPOs and completed about 3-5 of them per week.  I loved the flexibility it allowed since I was a stay at home(ish) mother of a baby.  I worked twice a week as a ROI specialist and the rest of the days I put my real estate agent hat on while caring for my son.

For those of you who don’t know, a BPO is somewhat of an informal appraisal.  Asset Manager companies get notified by various banks on properties they need a value for.  These companies then contact you via email to let agents know when a BPO becomes available in their area.  You take a look at the address, the fee and either accept or decline the order.   Exterior BPOs only require exterior photos of the subject and usually pay about $40 a pop.  Interior BPOs require both exterior and interior photos and usually pay about $65 a pop.  Both types require you to run comps for recently sold comparables and current active comparables.

In the beginning, it would take me anywhere between 2-3 hours to complete a BPO but as most things in life, once you do enough of them, you become a ‘pro’.  I can usually complete a BPO within 60-90 minutes; making them very well worth it.  I became strategic and accepted as many close by orders as possible; or at least orders that were in the same towns.  I’d take my son with me on the car rides to take the photos and worked on the data entry portion at night once he was asleep.  You can even negotiate the fee if the order doesn’t get accepted by another agent.  I would sometimes make $100 or $120 per order if it was outside of my jurisdiction!

I definitely recommend completing BPOs for newer agents to help with running comps, knowing the market, and determining accurate values on homes.  I can’t tell you how much of a confident booster it is when you’re at a listing appointment and can tell the seller how you work closely with banks on providing values on homes and are a wiz at determining listing prices!

A few of my favorite asset manager companies are Proteck, AssetVal, Assurant Valuations and Solidifi.  Keep in mind, I’m in the New England area and companies definitely vary depending on your location.

Anonymous for the Voiceless

I’ve been involved with Anonymous for the Voiceless since April of 2018.  Since then, I’ve done a bunch of demonstrations with them (as pictured above) mainly in the Providence area.  According to their website, Anonymous for the Voiceless is a street activist organization dedicated to total animal liberation. We expose to the public the animal exploitation that is intentionally hidden from them.  Cube of truths are held in public locations where half of the members form a cube and hold either a sign or footage and the other half of the members are on the outreach team and converse with the bystanders.  The masks serve a few purposes; it captures the bystanders attention, helps the bystanders focus on the footage instead of the person holding it and sends the anonymous message that we are there to speak up for the victims (animals) and not for ourselves.

This is by far my favorite form of activism at the moment.  There hasn’t been one cube I’ve attended where I didn’t have an uplifting conversation with a stranger that gives me hope for our future.  The footage is undercover footage from several different “RSPCA approved” factory farms, slaughterhouses, animal testing lab, etc.  It exposes how badly the victims are treated and murdered, as well as highlights the cruelty behind the standard practices used in these animal exploitation industries.

There are chapters (AV groups) in over 1,000 cities across the world; making AV a world wide organization.  Sometimes, local chapters come together for a cube and show strength in numbers.  The photos shared are from my most recent cube that was done in New Haven, Connecticut near Yale University.  AV members from the New Haven chapter, Massachusetts chapter and Rhode Island chapter joined together for an event that was hosted by well known animal activist, Joshua Entis.  It was an amazing event which led to over 50 bystanders leaving with an open mind on taking veganism more seriously.

Cruelty-Less Pizza!

Vegan pizza has been by far my favorite to whip up.  It’s amazing how creative you can get with toppings.  I’ve used mock meats, grounded up veggie patties, jack fruit, you name it!  The ones pictured below are a tomato, basil, spinach, with red onions and mozzarella along with a BBQ jack fruit with roasted corn, green onions and cheddar cheese.  Delicious!

Hot hoT YoGa

Photo by Burst on Pexels.com

If you enjoy yoga and or meditation, you should totally give Bikram Yoga a shot.  According to Wikipedia- Bikram Yoga is a system of yoga that Bikram Choudhury synthesized from traditional hatha yoga techniques. It became popular in the early 1970s. All Bikram Yoga Beginning Series classes run for 90 minutes and consist of the same series of 26 postures, including two breathing exercises.  The hubby and I currently signed up for a 21 day unlimited package and we’re scheduling two days a week.  It’s an intense course that helps you focus on breathing, technique and meditation.  My favorite pose is the one we get to do in between poses called savasana.  It means corpse pose and is a relaxation technique.. definitely right up my alley haha! I’m hoping it will help me with my March goal to finally get my splits and overall flexibility.

Eggplant & Red Pepper Chick’n Wraps

 

I was so proud of myself when I whipped this up together last minute.  My entire family loves the chickenless patties and nuggets from 365 so I try and get creative with them.  This time, I diced up the cooked patties and dressed up a delicious lunch wrap.  The base is a spread I found at Trader Joes that consist of eggplant and red peppers.  I’m actually making a version of these tonight for dinner.  They’ll include fire roasted corn and tomato along with most of the items pictured above.   Vegan meals can be fun and kept interesting.  The days of iceberg lettuce and tofu are long gone when it comes to cruelty free dining.  Almost everything and anything can be veganized these days.  So the real question is.. If we can live happy & healthy lives enjoying delicious foods without harming animals, why wouldn’t we???