| As the economy went south a couple of years ago | | | | plumbing fixture and the main shutoff valve is sealed |
| and the housing bubble burst, there was a huge | | | | and tagged. |
| amount of foreclosures slamming into the banks and | | | | The point is that there is a prescribed procedure from |
| real estate markets. For most people in construction or | | | | FHA and specific REO lenders, but there were about |
| real estate, it signaled widespread layoffs and | | | | 50% of the time when the pictures were improper or |
| unemployment. At the same time, in the arena of REO | | | | the passed the deadline or something happened to |
| vendors, the opposite thing happened. REO vendors | | | | backlog the huge amount of work on all these new |
| were slammed with more work than they usually had | | | | foreclosures. The result was that more displaced |
| and it became a challenge for most to keep up with | | | | construction workers or real estate sale people who |
| the demands on repossessed or foreclosed | | | | were out of work, felt that they could capitalize as an |
| properties. Someone has to step in and perform these | | | | REO vendor. The market became flooded with these |
| services. | | | | inexperienced workers who had no training in the art |
| Vendors in the REO world come in a number of | | | | of documentation of work in the REO world. |
| trades from appraisers and inspectors to clean-out | | | | A number of entities have created a sort of |
| and moving and storage trades. Each REO vendor | | | | cooperative for them so that those in need of specific |
| has to document precisely what was done and | | | | services can simple go to specialized websites and |
| provide detailed pictures and reports to back it up. As | | | | find an REO vendor. One example is They can match |
| this industry began to ramp up a couple of years ago, | | | | one for a particular area and specialty. This is a great |
| there was some sloppy reporting because of the | | | | help in the industry because it should weed out some |
| pressures of so much work being thrust into the | | | | of the less experienced providers who really don't |
| marketplace. For example, a simple winterizing could | | | | know what they are doing. Choosing the experienced |
| pay approximately $100. It would require pictures of the | | | | REO vendor can save a lending institution lots of time |
| antifreeze actually going into a drain for each drain or | | | | and money in getting the job done right the first time. |
| toilet and then there are stickers placed on each | | | | |