If you just bought a distressed house at auction two states away, the fastest way to get it listed and sold is to hire an agent who already does this for banks. Knowing how to find an REO agent — one who lists real-estate-owned inventory for lenders and servicers — matters because the first two tasks a bank hands a new REO listing agent are an opinion of value and an occupancy determination. Those are the exact same two tasks you need done on a property you have never physically seen.
Most investors skip this talent pool entirely and end up with a retail agent who has never dealt with a squatter, a boarded window, or a lawn violation notice. Windy Keefe has run REONetwork.com, a national directory of agents who specialize in distressed listings, for more than 24 years, and she has watched investor traffic to that pool climb steadily.
Below: why the skill sets overlap, a vetting checklist you can run over the phone, the vendor and reimbursement questions almost nobody asks, and where the default pipeline is actually headed.
Key takeaways
- The two things a bank asks a new REO listing agent for first — an opinion of value and an occupancy determination — are the same two things an out-of-state investor needs on a fresh auction buy.
- Interview the agent on BPO volume, drive-by willingness, and who they currently list for (hedge funds, private equity, mom-and-pop investors). High BPO volume is a usable proxy for real submarket pricing knowledge.
- Lenders increasingly expect the broker, not the seller, to bring contractors, lawn maintenance, and property preservation vendors. An agent with a standing bench can hand you a same-day bid.
- REO brokers often front repair costs and get reimbursed at closing, so written approvals and receipt tracking inside a task platform are non-negotiable before work starts.
- Start the relationship before you need it. The mature version is you calling the broker for eyes on a property pre-purchase, and the broker getting the listing after you close.
From the Real Estate Pros Show
This article draws on an interview with Windy Keefe of REONetwork.com on the Real Estate Pros Show, hosted by Scott Bursey.
Why an REO Broker’s Skill Set Fits an Investor’s Problem Property
The job description is nearly identical. When a lender assigns a bank-owned property to a listing agent, the first requests are an opinion of value and an occupancy determination: what is this worth, and is anyone living in it?
“You may have an investor that has just bought a property, maybe on auction,” Keefe said. “They live in another state, but they want to get this listed and sold. So they can find an REO broker to do the same thing. What do you think this is worth, give me your opinion of value? Is this property occupied?”
The occupancy piece is where the gap between an REO specialist and a retail agent gets expensive. If someone is in the house, an experienced REO agent already knows the state’s eviction procedure, how long it runs locally, and how to coordinate with local law enforcement. They are not researching it for the first time on your dime while your holding costs accrue.
The same applies to the surrounding mess: code violations, utilities that need to be turned on for an inspection, winterization, a roof tarp, a lawn that triggered a municipal citation. Keefe’s framing is the one worth remembering when you are choosing between two agents:
These agents are also pre-conditioned to communicate the way an institutional seller expects — status updates, documentation, photos, written scopes. An investor managing five properties across three states gets that reporting habit for free, because it was drilled into the agent by asset managers who would drop them for missing a deadline.
What to Ask Before You Hand Over the Listing
Treat it as a two-way interview, because a good REO agent will be interviewing you at the same time. Keefe coaches brokers to phone-screen investors — how many properties have you purchased, what is the plan for this one — precisely because plenty of callers claim to be investors and are not. Expect those questions. Their absence tells you something.
Run this list on your call:
- Can you turn a BPO on this address, and how fast? If broker price opinion is not everyday vocabulary for them, they are not from this world.
- Will you physically drive by? Desktop-only value opinions are worthless on a property you have not seen either.
- Who do you currently list for? Hedge funds, private equity groups, mom-and-pop investors, banks, credit unions. Keefe’s observation over 24 years is that the agents who survived slow REO cycles are the ones who diversified into investor work.
- Do you also do property management or commercial? Directories now encourage agents to list these in their profiles. If you might hold instead of flip, one relationship covers both exits.
- What is your process if the property turns out to be occupied? Listen for specifics about your state’s procedure, not generalities.
- Do you have staff? A solo agent juggling reimbursements, vendor scheduling, and 40 retail listings will drop things.
Ask for two or three recent distressed listings in that submarket and check the days on market and list-to-sale spread yourself. That is the only part of the interview the agent cannot talk their way through.
The brokers and agents on that site know how to work with problem properties. They’re good about having solutions before the problems even happen. And if a problem comes up, that’s just a regular Tuesday for them.
— Windy Keefe, REONetwork.com
The Vendor Bench Question Most Investors Skip
Ask who supplies the contractors, and understand the shift Keefe has watched. Lenders and large investment companies used to assign their own contractor groups and require the listing agent to use them. That has flipped. Now the expectation is that the agent brings the bench: contractors, lawn maintenance, property preservation.
“The whole process goes faster if the broker or agent can say, hey, I’ve got a contractor that can — here’s the bid, this is how much they cost, and we can move forward with it now,” Keefe said.
For an out-of-state owner that is the difference between a same-day bid and two weeks of cold-calling contractors in a market where you have no reputation and no leverage on scheduling. Cheap trash-out and lawn vendors are also the hardest thing to source remotely, and they are the first things a distressed listing needs.
Get the money flow in writing first
Here is the part that catches investors off guard. REO brokers are frequently expected to front the cost of repairs, cleanouts, and preservation work, then get reimbursed at closing. That norm can carry over to your listing.
Keefe’s warning is blunt: the work has to be approved and the receipt has to be kept. Before any vendor touches the property, settle three things in writing — the dollar threshold above which you must approve a spend, who fronts the cash, and when reimbursement happens.
Then agree on where the paper lives. Keefe’s point is that you need a task and receipt platform, internal or shared, because costs accumulate fast and untracked approvals turn into a closing-table argument neither side can document.
BPO vs CMA and Why It Signals Market Knowledge
A broker price opinion is an agent’s written valuation of a property, supported by comparables. Keefe describes it plainly: BPOs “are like CMAs” — the comparative market analysis a retail agent prepares for a seller. The difference is mostly context and vocabulary. BPO is the standard term in the REO and default servicing world, ordered by lenders, servicers, and asset managers, usually on a fixed form with required photos and both an as-is and repaired value.
Why an investor should care about BPO volume: it is one of the few verifiable proxies for whether an agent actually knows pricing in a specific submarket. Keefe tells brokers to get “really, really good at BPOs” specifically because doing them in quantity forces you to learn a market cold. Someone who has valued 200 properties across a county, including the ugly ones, has a data set no retail agent carries in their head.
That matters most where comps are thin. In rural markets, a suburban agent pulling three sales from eight miles away will miss by a wide margin on acreage, well and septic, outbuildings, and road frontage. An agent who has been assigned BPOs in that county for years has priced those variables repeatedly and been graded on the result.
So ask directly: how many BPOs did you complete last year, and in which counties? Then ask for their as-is number on your property before you share what you paid. If their figure lands near your independent read, you have a pricing partner. If it is wildly off, you have learned that cheaply.
Where the Distressed Inventory Is Actually Going
Keefe does not expect a repeat of 2008-2009. What she is seeing instead is a slow, uneven build: notice of defaults ticking up, more short sales in the pipeline, and brokers openly preparing for short sale volume. On the state level, Florida and Texas are both producing more REO based on her conversations with premium members in those markets.
The more useful insight for anyone timing acquisitions is why the volume you would expect isn’t showing up on the MLS. Lenders holding heavy default on their books are selling those loans to investment companies rather than foreclosing through to REO.
“It kind of pushes that timeline down,” Keefe said. “People will be like, there’s a lot of foreclosure property in my area, but I don’t see them coming on the market.”
Once the paper changes hands, the new owner runs its own playbook — sometimes renegotiating the loan, sometimes selling, sometimes foreclosing — and the clock restarts. That is a large part of why occupants stay in place for years, and why Keefe says agents are only now seeing properties hit the market that were foreclosed on around 2019 and 2020.
Add judicial foreclosure states to that drag. In New Jersey, New York, and Florida, the process runs through the courts and takes considerably longer. The byproduct is inventory sitting vacant and abandoned for extended stretches, which is bad for the neighborhood and an opportunity for whoever has boots on the ground there. That is the case for having an agent relationship in a judicial state before the volume arrives, not after.
Building the Relationship Before You Need It
Do not start looking the week you need a listing agent. Keefe’s consistent advice across 24 years of matching brokers to sellers is that these relationships take time and pay off on the second and third transaction, not the first.
The version worth building toward is a two-way pipeline. You call the broker before you buy and ask them to look at a property; they do it, because the listing comes to them after you close. “I’ve just seen this happen organically where they have this really good partnership where they’re helping each other make good deals,” Keefe said. An agent who gets your dispositions consistently will drive by a prospective buy on short notice. One who has never closed with you will not.
Practical sourcing steps:
- Search by zip code in an REO directory. REONetwork lists over 6,000 REO brokers nationally, which by Keefe’s calculation covers roughly 98% of the U.S. population. Zip code search is free.
- For rural coverage, ask a human. Thin markets are exactly where finding an agent who will take distressed work is hardest. Keefe fields those requests by email daily and recruits agents into uncovered areas.
- Work LinkedIn. Default servicing professionals are genuinely active there — asset managers, REO brokers, preservation vendors. Keefe treats it as her primary professional channel.
- Show up at REO conferences. She is seeing more investors attend events run by groups like the National Association of Default Professionals and Five Star specifically to meet listing agents.
Then keep in contact between deals. That is the whole mechanism.
Frequently asked questions
What is an REO broker and how is that different from a regular listing agent?
An REO broker is a licensed agent or broker who specializes in listing real-estate-owned property — homes a lender or servicer took back through foreclosure. REO stands for real estate owned, the term banks use for an asset acquired via foreclosure.
The practical difference from a retail listing agent is the surrounding workload. REO agents routinely handle occupancy determinations, evictions, cash-for-keys, utility activation, trash-outs, winterization, code violations, and lender reporting requirements. A retail agent’s job normally starts after all of that is already resolved.
What is a BPO and why would an investor order one?
A broker price opinion is an agent’s written valuation of a property with supporting comparables. Windy Keefe describes a BPO as essentially the same exercise as a CMA, with BPO being the standard term used in the REO and default servicing industry.
An investor orders one to get a local, comp-supported as-is and repaired value on a property they cannot walk — before setting a list price or, better, before buying. It is faster and cheaper than an appraisal, and the agent’s willingness to drive by tells you whether the number is grounded in the actual condition.
Who pays for repairs on an REO listing, the broker or the owner?
In bank REO, the broker commonly fronts the cost and gets reimbursed at closing. Keefe’s caution is that this only works if the spend was approved in advance and the receipt was kept.
On your own listing, settle it in writing before any work starts: the approval threshold, who advances the money, and the reimbursement timing. Both sides should be logging approvals and receipts in a shared task or management platform, or the reconciliation turns into a dispute at the closing table. This is a business arrangement between you and the agent, not a legal or accounting standard — get your own counsel on the paperwork.
Are foreclosure and REO volumes going up right now?
They are ticking up, but not sharply. Keefe reports rising notice of default activity, more short sales expected, and increasing REO volume specifically in Florida and Texas, while explicitly saying she does not anticipate a 2008-2009 style crash.
The volume also arrives later than the default data suggests. Lenders are selling defaulted loans to investment companies, which restarts the workout clock, and judicial foreclosure states like New Jersey, New York, and Florida add court-driven delay. Some properties only now reaching the market were foreclosed on around 2019 and 2020.
How do I find a distressed-property listing agent in a rural market?
Start with a zip code search in a national REO directory rather than a general agent search, then ask for a referral if the results are thin. REONetwork’s roster of more than 6,000 brokers covers roughly 98% of the U.S. population by Keefe’s calculation, and searching by zip code is free.
Rural coverage is exactly where the gap shows up, which is why the site prompts users to email Keefe directly when no agent appears — she recruits into uncovered areas. If you go that route, prioritize BPO experience in that specific county, since thin comps are what break outside agents on rural valuations.
The bottom line
Pick the two or three markets where you expect to buy in the next twelve months and line up an REO-experienced listing agent in each one now, while you have nothing on the line and can afford to test their BPO against your own numbers.
