Thursday, 28 July 2011

Services Offered By An REO Asset Management Business

By Farrah Bernard


REO asset management deals with the task of preserving a property possessed by a mortgage lender or a banking company. For that is what REO is, Real Estate Owned. These are the properties which have become the bank's property through foreclosures, when the owner cannot afford their mortgage payments. These holdings would have failed to attract any bid in the event of a foreclosure auction (if an auction did take place) and had a market value less than the debt owed to the bank. Such holdings will usually be in a bad condition due to lacking upkeep by the owner or tenant, which is why the lenders could benefit from such services.

Because an REO home is a nonperforming asset for the financial institution, they would want to sell it, so they would like for it to be in a healthy (even if not top) shape. This is why they take the help of REO asset management companies. The teams commonly remove debris and waste in and around the holding, perform janitorial services, board up the windowpanes (to keep the property protected from vandals), and re-key and secure all doors. The services also include landscaping and improving the landscape or outdoors of the holding to a decent state. They also do the planning for winter (winterization) if necessary.

Property preservation becomes challenging if the property is occupied. For that reason, eviction is provided as a service of property preservation contractors. These are of course the initial services. Property preservation companies also provide repeating and periodic services such as review, maintenance, and at times, even cleansing.

The companies also prepare the holdings before sale. This preparation may include lawn trimming, cleansing the house inside out, and inspecting and repairing plumbing, HVAC, electrical furnishing etc. Usually banking companies prefer to sell these houses in an "as-is" condition; but if they want to do renovate or remodeling to increase the property's equity or to prevent a deal from falling through, property preservation contractors may also provide these services.

In recent times, maybebecause of the economic difficulties, the number of foreclosures and REO properties has been on the rise. This has brought an increase in the demand for REO property preservation, as banks and lenders find themselves with more and more non-performing assets that need to be developed, to be of any value in real estate. When handled well, the preservation services often improve the REO property's standing in the real estate market.




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