“Which news do you want first? The good or the bad?” Countless colleagues, friends, spouses and kids playfully pose this question daily. As every real estate professional knows, it is too simplistic to label our industry as “good or bad”. What about the gray areas in-between?
.As the 2008 recession becomes a (painfully distant) memory, I believe some congratulations are in order. While some difficulty remains ahead, you tightened your belt, rolled with the punches and made it through to sunnier days. Give yourself a pat on the back. It shouldn’t come as a shock that the good news is that things are starting to look up for the real estate industry and our economy. *Insert digital fist bump here.* However, national banks and capital market investors who have heavily invested in distressed portfolios may find the current state of the economy confusing – that’s the uncertain. *Insert confused frowny face emoji.*
.According to a recent article by HousingWire, vacant bank-owned properties are up 67% from 2015, with an estimated 46,000 “zombie foreclosures” still lying dormant. Vacant REO properties increase a bank or investors risk exposure as property preservation tends to become more expensive and costly as time goes on – that’s the bad news. Every day an REO asset is on your books, it is costing you money. As the old saying goes “a dollar off the top is a dollar off the bottom”. Most investors intend to return the real estate asset back to the market whether through rental or sale, hopefully at a profit. Choosing the wrong property preservation company will cost your company time and lost profit.
Banks and investors are often faced with pulling two “levers” when selecting a property preservation vendor; those levers are time and money. Most property preservation companies view time and competitive pricing as having inverse correlating effects – you can only have one or the other, not both. Real Estate managers can “turn up” the efficiency/time saver lever but this had a downward effect on the money saving lever and vice versa. In other words, managers can choose to have their property preservation requests handled quickly and efficiently, but this will cost them more. The other option is a cheaper product that takes longer. However, the team at FRFS challenges you to not settle when you can (and should!) have the best of both worlds. Through our efficient systems, friendly technology, and expertise staff, we will deliver on-time results you need at a price that is lower than our competitors. We keep the “time and money levers” on full blast. Your work order gets completed efficiently with fair prices. Period. Don’t settle when selecting a property preservation company. Partner with a pro. Leave it to the experts at First Rate and see firsthand how we are ushering in a new generation of preservation.
