Lenders Show Increased Interest in Hybrid BPOs

After conducting an analysis of its recent sales data, ""Equi-Trax Asset Solutions LP"":http://www.equi-trax.com/, a national collateral valuation provider, found that lender demand for hybrid broker price opinions (BPOs) has notably increased over the last two years.

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The Santa Barbara, California-based company delivers hybrid BPOs under a meticulous quality control process in an effort to bridge the gap between BPOs and full appraisals. As for the surge in lender demand, Guy Taylor, CEO of Equi-Trax, said there are two major trends driving this change.

First, he said BPOs are the most affordable method of getting an estimate of a property's value, and when evaluated by a licensed, certified appraiser, the product

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can be very accurate. In addition, Taylor explained that origination volume is still relatively low and default servicing is active. As a result, Equi-Trax is seeing more servicers ordering valuation products, and these companies often use BPOs during the default process.

Equi-Trax, which offers the ValuePlus BPO, began developing hybrid valuation products before the downturn in the housing market because company executives expected lenders to seek out affordable valuation options that could deliver more accurate results. The company said mortgage servicers, in particular, are demanding more accuracy at the same time they are increasingly pressured to cut costs.

According to Equi-Trax, products like the ValuePlus BPO combine a BPO product with real-time reconciliation provided by a licensed, certified appraiser, to provide servicers with the benefit of two experts for the price of one.

The ValuePlus BPO offers photos of both the inside and outside of the property, multiple listing service photos, an area map, data for three sales comps and three listing comps, a comparative market analysis, and a reconciliation by a certified appraiser with additional data points. Also included is an opinion as to the appropriateness of the valuation methods and techniques used, suggestions for developing and reporting any reasons for disagreement, and a final valuation estimate.