In response to your question. I'm a BPO agent currently working with many banks. There are 2 stages of BPO's. Exterior and Interior. Most banks will order 2 exterior BPO's and 1 or 2 interior BPO's to be completed. Most of the times it's when an offer has been submitted to the bank in which the BPO's are taken place. The exterior BPO's are usually ordered when a person defaults on the property so the bank can get a general idea of what the current values are so they'll be prepared if the seller decides to do a "short sale."

When it comes to short sale approved deals, the bank has completed the BPO's and has settled upon a figure that they will approve of. Most of the times there has been an offer on the property and since short sales take enormous market time the first or multiple buyers have cancelled their respective deal. If you come across an approved deal the bank will generally not budge on price therefore that's why the selling agent has priced the property at the bank's approval price. I hope that answers your question and good luck.

I wish I saw this before I head on to my short sale property 4.5 months ago....my problem is, the property I am contracted with...no one knows who owns the mortgage...aka, no one knows whos the BANK that owns that property...(Tayer Bean was the one previously own the mortgage and we all know how they ended up...)

I will drop the contract once it will expire before Thanksgiving and take my earnest money for a good vacation....totally waste of time.