Comment

Comment by Jim Schneider on December 6, 2010 at 8:16pm

Your question sounds like it's a general question, not about one specific transaction, so I'm going to answer on how to avoid this in the first place. Once you're stuck there, you probably have to cancel out the offer and re-submit or try to fight the existing bpo, the first is slow, the second is not easy because you're not neutral.

My advice on how to fix this is to try to make sure the bpo is done right before hand - and to make sure that it's results are not a surprise to you. There is a whole bpo section at

to help you anticipate what offer will likely "fit" the bpo, To help you give USEABLE comps to the bpo agent when they show up, and to fight a bad bpo based on bpo guidelines.

my steps look like

1. Do bpo's for some companies so you get a deep understanding of how they work
2. Set the listing price based on the bpo - same for price changes
3. Only accept offers that meet your anticipated bpo - don't forget you're still allowed to negotiate when offers come in.
4. Meet the bpo agent at the property when they do the bpo, and give them useable comps (comps that don't meet the guidelines or where they can't tell if they meet guidelines go to the trash bin). Find out which bpo company sent them out (usually it will be a third party intermediary like ProTech or IAS). This will give you more insight into which set of guidelines they are using.
5. If you have a bpo problem, try to get a copy of the bpo. I've heard many say this can't be done. I've also done bpo's where the listing agent called me after the evaluation and said "why did you use this lowsy comp on Smith St." so I know it can be done.
6. If you have to argue to bpo, post the problem in the bpo blog

and we'll try to find a solution for you.