We shared with you in June that we were diligently working on the release of a significant redesign and development of our BankProspector application, a version 2.0 if you will, and to keep our members and fans updated on that progress, here’s an update on the situation.

We are continuing to work towards the launch and roll out of BankProspector version 2.0, admittedly, taking the new application live has taken longer than we had first anticipated.  The most notable reason for the delay is a portion of our development team, located offshore, has experienced two (2) natural disasters (yes, there were actually two), stalling communication and progress intermittently.

We’re back on track now, we’ve established a clear timeline to deliver on the exciting changes we’ve had in store, and we can sense that the excitement is building in the market, from the emails and different requests that we receive daily about the launch and the unique features and functionality that we are putting in place.

We’re targeting early August 2010 to begin rolling out BankProspector version 2.0 to our current members and early adopter list.  Stay connected with us and get notified about updates as they become available.  Thank you for your patience and support during this process, and we look forward to sharing version 2.0 with you soon!

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You may have noticed that we are currently closed to new subscribers – we’ve received more than a few emails asking what’s going on, so here’s the scoop.

Next week (fingers crossed) we’ll begin to roll out BankProspector 2.0. This is not a minor upgrade to the existing system, this is a ground up rebuild. We’re currently behind schedule partially due to unforeseen circumstances and partially due to the fact that as the first public facing application for this live data, we’ve had to work through some trial and error with regards to source.

All that said, we are going to roll out a trial version of BankProspector 2.0 to existing paid members and those on the list first. After both this internal and external beta period, we will open version 2.0 to new subscribers.

The data that is in BankProspector today is not as fresh as it needs to be. Part of the reason we’re excited about bringing you 2.0 is that the only way you could have more up to date bank data is if you were actually sitting in the bank – we’re truly excited about the advancements being put in place.

Once again we want to apologize to our paying members and fans for the delay and again say to you that we promise to make it up to you during the roll out with bonuses and gifts. Thanks again for your understanding.

Sign Up for Early Notification

Members have been telling me they’re eager to see the latest data from the banks, and we’re eager to give it to you. So I thought I’d explain a bit about how and when we get our distressed loan and REO data so you know what to expect.

Banks are regulated by a number of agencies which require quarterly reporting. After the close of the quarter, a bank has until the end of the following month to submit their quarterly report. After the reports are submitted, the the data is compiled, then bulk data becomes available to us electronically. The compilation process takes between 20 and 30 days after the reporting deadline. The data then becomes available to  BankProspector members within 24 hours. So, long story short, Q4 2009 bank data will be available any minute.

Real Time Bank Data

Right now, and for the past several months, we’ve been working on updating our systems to take advantage of pending changes in the bank data delivery process. Without getting to technical, the end result is going to be faster delivery of the data, and more of it, all packaged in a much slicker interface.  It’s our goal to provide you with the best tools on the market for researching, prospecting, contacting, and tracking community and regional lenders with distressed assets.

REO and Distressed Loan Categories

Today, with BankProspector, you can search for multifamily, commercial, construction, and residential REO and non-performing loan balances (among other things). Beginning in March, we will be expanding this by breaking construction into sub categories and you’ll have access to non-performing, or late loans, on land as well as land REO.

This is just a small taste of what’s coming and what will start to show up, for no additional charge, on your member dashboard in March. Stay tuned, or subscribe now and lock in rates before they go up.

One question I get a lot is “Who should I be asking for at the bank?”. The answer depends on a a few things 1) the size of the bank 2) what your offer is 3) your comfort level with the material of the discussion 4) your existing connections.

Sales experts will tell you that selling is a top down activity. Prospecting banks is no different. It doesn’t matter if you are prospecting for acquisitions or selling your services the approach is more or less the same. If the bank is a community or small regional bank call the president first. Wouldn’t you rather get bumped down to an SVP then get bumped up to a VP?

Tip: If you’re calling cold, get the name of the president from the website, call before or after regular bank hours, use the dial by name directory. Your connection rate will be north of 30%.

What are you offering? If you’re offering to steal property at ridiculously low prices don’t bother. If on the other hand you are offering to bring cash and provide liquidity to projects where you can reach a mutually beneficial arrangement… well then you have something to talk about. The difference between these offers is semantics.

If you don’t know what the bank’s problems are don’t call at the top. If you’re not going to speak the language and don’t know what the banks numbers are you are going to look silly.

At some point you are either going to get kicked down the line or if you’ve entered the account improperly and you’re moving from the bottom up then you are looking for people with titles like:

1. Commercial Workout Officer
2. Special Assets Group
3. Special Situations
4. Loss Mitigation groups
5. Risk Officers at different levels
6. REO Manager

If you can’t get a hold of the president call the head of commercial lending (assuming you’re looking for the good stuff) and when you get the secretary say “I’m not sure if I’m in the right place maybe you can help me. Who would I talk to if I have a commercial loan with you that is in trouble?” or something very similar. You’ll be headed in the right direction in no time.

[Visit the site to watch this video]

About a week ago we launched new search pages. Here’s a summary of the changes and a video on how to use them.

The most current data still displays with pie charts and the charts are still clickable. Now you’ll also see a breakdown on the right with the corresponding totals for each asset or loan type. Additionally you see a bank count (“Banks”). This count represents the total number of institutions contributing to the dollar amounts shown. As always the dollar amounts are in thousands. Members can click on the area of the chart, on the bank count, or on the dollar amounts to generate a list of lenders.

The historical tab now shows the totals for each of the past four quarters for every asset type for each of the 3 distressed categories tracked (late loans, non-performing loans, and bank owned property or REO).  As with the current quarter members can click on the graphs or on any of the active linked dollar amounts.

The result set from either of the searches above will always be sorted with in descending order for that type of distress. In other words banks with the most of that problem are at the top of the list and with the least are at the bottom. This is true for US searches or when searching individual states.

The video above is also available at the top of the BankProspector Product Tour page.

BankProspector, the bank research component of this site, is undergoing a significant face-lift over the next couple of days. The end result will be more data more easily accessed for our members. In the short term however (24-48 hours) members may experience a shifting interface and, though not likely, possibly reduced performance.

Some of the updates for BankProspector include:

• Bank counts so that members can see in an instant how many lenders have what kinds of distressed assets
• Disaggregated historical data – members will be able to instantly view all of the distressed real estate numbers for the US or individual states in a very granular way.

Thanks for your patience during this process.

distressedpro.com Webmaster

Distressedpro.com has released a comprehensive User Guide to accompany its premier bank research product, BankProspector. The 22 page guide goes just beyond the basic functionality of the product and touches on some of what’s behind the numbers. Members are strongly encouraged to make their way through the entire guide so that they’re able to make the most out of the information BankProspector provides. Non-members may peruse the guide to gain a better understanding of the tool.

Under development now is a Basic Training manual that will assist distressed real estate professionals with formulating and executing a bank prospecting and relationship building strategy. BankProspector helps real estate investors, brokers, funds, developers, and appraisers to identify real estate opportunities with more than 8,000 banks nation wide.

BankProspector is the only product on the web designed to help real estate professionals find banks with distressed assets, REO, nonaccrual loans and nonperforming notes for sale.

Today BankProspector from distressedpro.com becomes available to the real estate community. BankProspector gives real estate professionals, investors, attorneys, and lenders instant anytime access to the distressed real estate and mortgage loan information for more than 8000 US banks.

With BankProspector members can generate lists of lenders with bank owned real estate and troubled real estate loans that meet their specific criteria. Members can search geographically with a simple map interface, by bank name, or with the advanced search. A drill down from high-level US data to state data ends with records for individual lenders. These records show:

• General bank information
• Capital adequacy and leverage ratios
• Distressed real estate loan and REO totals
• Non-performing or performing notes listed as ‘held for sale’
• Late and defaulting mortgage loans for
  each category [residential, multifamily, commercial, construction]
• REO (bank owned real estate) balances for each lender by asset type.
• Non current percentages by asset type
• Net Charge-Offs (may be an indicator of a lender’s willingness to sell)
• Contacts at the bank with LinkedIn accounts
• …and more

Increasingly lenders are calling the shots when it comes to real estate transactions. Nationally lenders are seeing higher rates of default in nearly every real estate loan category and their OREO (bank owned property) balances are growing nearly every quarter. As this trend continues and lenders take control of more property investors, brokers, attorneys, etc. will need to work directly with many of the more than 8000 lenders just as these lenders will be seeking outside expertise and solutions to their growing problems.

BankProspector is designed for real estate professionals of all types who are interested in developing or expanding a network of special assets, workout, and risk management professionals at banks they currently work with or would like to.