Retro BPOs
What is a Retro BPO? (AKA Retroactive BPO or Historical BPO)
The word “Retro” brings back memories of decades past. But in the BPO world, “Retro” only means a few years, not decades.
Quite simply, it’s a Broker’s Price Opinion (BPO) ordered by a lender, which requires you to give a value on the property as of a certain date in the PAST.
It’s like hopping into a time machine, and going back X years to find out what the property was worth back then.
For instance, if the lender says they want a Retro BPO completed with a Retro date of 10/10/2005, you will need to go back into your MLS program and pull your comps from that time period. You will “pretend” that TODAY is 10/10/2005, and proceed with pulling your comps accordingly.
Typically, this means going back 6 months, so your comparable sales should be from 3/10/05 through 10/10/05. Anything earlier than 3/10/05 will likely require an explanation as to why you went farther back than 6 months. Likewise, any comparable sales dated after 10/10/05 will likely get rejected since it’s past the retro date.
Easy-to-do
The Retro BPO can be one of the easiest BPOs you perform as an agent. Typically, the lender does not require any photos of the subject property. Sometimes they will have you verify whether the property is still standing. But no photos are typically required. Also, the form itself is usually easier than a standard BPO form. You will only need to provide closed sales as comps, with no competitive listings required.
Why would the lender order a Retro BPO? There are many reasons – the most common reason is to determine if there was fraud in the real estate transaction (appraisal fraud or mortgage fraud). Also, it could be used for probate/trust/estate purposes, court cases, divorce, bankruptcy, or just to “spot check” appraisals as part of a Quality Control process.
Regardless of the reason, there’s a definite need for the Retro BPO in our current marketplace. If you’re looking to add a little extra income to your bottom line, try picking up a few of these Retro BPOs and see how you like them.
5 Comments to “Retro BPOs”
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How to Get Started Doing BPOs – Part 2 | BPO/REO blog — March 30, 2010 @ 10:08 am
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By Roman, May 10, 2010 @ 12:23 am
Great comments on retro BPOs. I love Retros – quickest and easiest form I ever seen. However, not many BPO companies order them. Thanks!
By Rob H., May 10, 2010 @ 9:18 am
I agree Roman, these are easy money but there’s not a lot of companies asking for them. Thanks for stopping by, feel free to comment any time.
By Nancy Giaquinto, June 15, 2011 @ 6:37 am
How can I get a Retro Bpo Form
By RobH, June 22, 2011 @ 7:58 pm
Nancy – I am not sure I know of one online you can use but the BPO company assigning the order to you will normally have an online form you fill out that creates the BPO into a pdf format. If not, they should be able to provide you with a blank form for you to use, if they expect you to complete them they should have the forms available for you.