REO Vendors Work On Setting Themselves Apart.(real estate owned)(REO Nationwide)(Company overview)

NEWPORT BEACH, CA -- In a people-driven, dependent business, REO vendors are making it a priority to set themselves apart from other outsource firms.

C.J. Gehlke, founder and chief executive officer of Newport Beach, Calif.-based REO Nationwide, believes the "cut" is made directly from the knowledge base, experience, work ethic and commitment.

REO Nationwide, which has been in business since the early 1980s, provides REO disposition services and valuations, including BPOs, CMAs, appraisals, single orders and high volume. The firm also does consulting.

"The fact that the company responds quickly makes us different from the competition," Ms. Gehlke says. "We don't want things to go unsolved for more than 24 hours without making an additional effort to resolve the holdup. After 48 hours, we enact an alternative plan. Failure is not an option and there is always something that can be done."

Ms. Gehlke understands that no outsource service can be all things to all people. That is why interaction with clients is crucial to the success of her business, the CEO says. She says vendors must make a constant effort every day to speak with clients who manage REO within the servicing, asset management and real estate departments of banks, finance companies and some small credit unions. Many banks outsource to three or four different companies to liquidate REO, she observes, which is another reason why outsource companies need to stand out among the pack.

REO Nationwide drives business by asking particular questions of the client. What do you like? What do you dislike? What do you like most about your other vendor choice? What would you change about your other vendor choice? "We get enough answers to give our clients a program we are sure will work for both them and us. We will not sell anything until we know what the client really needs and can use."

The top three states with new foreclosure rates in the U.S. in July were Alabama, Colorado and Illinois. According to Ms. Gehlke, aggressive financing has pumped up homeownership to record numbers. She said homeowners of all income levels have been able to purchase homes and more expensive ones at that with some of the more relaxed loan programs available in the recent low interest rate mortgage origination boom. Interest-only loans and no-documentation, stated-income mortgages have allowed people to qualify more on the basis of a low initial payment, rather than on what they can afford based on more traditional methods of evaluation, she said.