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52 here are not too many professions that completely change over time. Of course, emerging and changing laws affect attorneys, advances in health care influence doctors, and new technologies impact the work of an electrician. While all professionals have areas to learn and grow, ask any REO real estate agent to describe his or her job just three or four short years ago, and that description is vastly different from the role today. Dramatically reduced property inventory combined with countless regulatory changes have resulted in an entirely different interpretation of what it means to be an REO real estate agent. To say their jobs have changed or grown is an understatement. REO agents are now being asked—and, in many cases, required—to take on new responsibilities on behalf of both mortgage servicers and investors, all while under a magnifying glass evaluating their performance and ultimately impacting their careers. ey are quickly learning that to remain in business, they will have to make considerable changes to their business models—from the tasks they are willing to take on to their marketing strategies. Although a challenge, today's most successful real estate professionals are taking advantage of our current market and identifying alternative ways to profit from these changes outside of their conventional duties as an REO agent. REO: A LOOK BACK A few years ago, assignments for REO assets were plentiful. e abundance of inventory sold quickly and rather easily, and the requirements and red tape agents encountered was minimal. Fast forward to 2014; agents are operating in a completely different environment. Inventory is widely known to be extremely low throughout the majority of the country. And it is not just the smaller volume of assignments hindering their ability to remain successful; for each asset that agents receive, they are required to put in more time, effort, and money from their own pockets—and are receiving much less income at the end of the day. Doing more work for a smaller profit is the opposite of what every professional or business tries to accomplish; however, that is exactly what REO agents are facing. With the new jobs they are being asked to complete, much of agents' time and labor is no longer tied to a guaranteed income. If an agent is asked to conduct a broker price opinion (BPO) or door knocking, two common tasks for agents now, there is no assur- ance he or she will receive that listing or that the borrower will even cooperate. An agent might spend hours working to initiate contact with a borrower who, at the end of the day, opts to do a loan modification, translating into no money generated for the agent (or even revenue to coun- ter the money spent driving once, or even several times, to the home). In addition to managing a great number of tasks due to regulatory guide- lines, every process now includes more work and additional steps. For a short sale, agents usually visit a borrower's home two or three times to gather the correct documents now required to officially complete their full financial package. In addition to the activities themselves, there are specific certifications and skills agents must gain that involve their time, and often money, to perform these functions in the first place. Door knocking, for example, is not as simple as it may seem; it typically requires agents to undergo training and pass specific tests. Background checks, additional insurance and training on the REO agents need to increase their skill sets in order to stay viable in a shrinking REO marketplace. I N D U S T R Y I N S I G H T / B R E N T T A G G A R T TODAY'S REO AGENTS: WHY DIVERSIFIED SKILLS ARE A MUST