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13 What were some of the trends that you saw in the market from March 2020 onward? Hastings: Hyperinflation was a big one. e Federal Reserve, for years and years, has tracked new home construction, and they're into a benchmark of hitting one million homes built a year. For a long time, that simply hasn't been happening. Buyers then fight over what's left, and that causes values to fluctuate. In Vegas alone, hyperinflation has caused real estate values to over triple in the last 10 years. Hyperinflation does not end well. e reason we are concerned about inflation is because it throws things out of sync. If we have inflation, higher interest rates, and a depreciation in real estate values, we are in for trouble. In the 1980s, we experienced inflation and real estate values were dropping, historically, when you inflate, your inflation is going to raise the value of your house as well. Pagano: at is where the biggest hit will occur, the people who have maxed out their loan's value. At that point, they cannot really cover all those payments. And once inflation hits, I think that's where Jim is really painting a very accurate picture here, people are into their home for 107% or 120%. Some just leave their keys on the table, and that's what they did the last housing crisis. What has been your weapon of choice in terms of technology in handling your REO workflow? Pagano: Some clients are going to use RES.NET, Equator, Pyramid … there's any number of platforms available. It's always a good idea to make sure that you're aware of how your client really wants you to communicate. Personally, I prefer the least amount of touches in a lot of instances, but some of our clients love to get on the phone. ey want you to call and be interactive. Others don't mind an email, and some will text me after hours. You always want to make sure that you are communicating in the client's space in the way that they want to be communicated with because it just makes things easier for them. Hastings: ere is broker-side software, and there is client-seller-side software. REO sellers use a system that they choose. You need to be literate on them: Equator, HomeSteps Connect, Pyramid, RES.NET, etc. en there are the brokers who do a higher volume who will have their own internal software to manage their flow in their office. at's what Broker Brain is—a user-friendly, web-based property asset management system and REO software created with real estate brokers in mind. We built Broker Brain as a system to go and scrape some of those other systems, so it integrates both together. Because there are issues in some of those systems when you're doing high volume that may cost a ton of time. But like Steve mentioned, we all must use whatever seller system the client wants. If they want their hamburger with onions, that's what they will get. How did you change your operational structure to serve your client base at the height of the pandemic? Hastings: My client base is almost 100% REO-based. e pandemic was the first time in my life I ever had a sabbatical. I've never had time off in all my years in the industry, so I was able to speak with REO sellers and other REO brokers. We all got time to make needed changes and it was really fun. We took this time to go through our entire network, and we cleaned everything up. We cleaned up our systems and procedures and eliminated multiple things that were no longer needed. We spent our time basically honing our craft. Pagano: My experience was very similar to Jim's. Between traveling back and forth between New York and Hawaii, I was always real busy, almost 100% in REO space. Like Jim, I managed to take a little bit of time off. It was my first break ever. We used that opportunity to keep on top of our profiles, seeking out who we can partner with. We also took advantage of trying to research some technologies to give us added client benefits. ings that our clients or that other REO agents might not be doing. What is FORCE doing to for its membership as the industry changes and the market begins to heat up? Pagano: FORCE is always on top of things … now, more than ever. With the current board, everybody is mindful of the situation that a lot of REO brokers are currently in. What it comes down to, at the end of the day, is everybody who's involved with FORCE is looking for a new way to find business or re-establish their business. I've told people this in the past too, and it's worth repeating … it's "FORCE gives me a platform to use my gifts and talents. My participation in FORCE drives a place where I can share my gifts and talents for the greater good, and that's a big part of who I am." –FORCE Advisory Council Chair Jim Hastings

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