If you are thinking of becoming a foreclosure investor, you have some work to do first. The foreclosure process is often quite complicated and varies from state-to-state. While great deals are available, you need to know more about the process before you begin.

Here are some terms that you may encounter in the course of buying foreclosed properties.

Abandonment The homeowner simple leaves the property and does not plan to come back. If there is a mortgage or taxes due, the foreclosure process will start. Also known as a “key toss” in the trade. (more…)

Tips on Buying a Bank Owned (REO) Property that everyone needs to know. There are hundreds of tips because each transaction is different but for the sake of space, lets narrow it down to Eight tips. The media is talking crazy when it advertises about about getting into the Foreclosure Market. Two ladies are talking and one says she just bought her DREAM HOME for $18,000 dollars. All you have to do is get a Foreclosure List and you too can get your DREAM HOME for less than one years rent. It’s that easy folks.

The reality in the North Texas (Dallas Fort Worth Area) is that it aint’ happening. Why… Dallas Forth Worth, Houston and San Antonio are all growing. More and more people are moving to this “Triangle”. According to the Associated Press, July Home Sales Had the Largest Increase Nationally in 10 Years and Texas is expected to Lead the Nation in Recovery. Texas Posted 37,900 Net Job Growth in July – First Gain in Almost One Year. As long as the jobs are growing and the price of Real Estate is low compared to the rest of the United States, real estate will hold its value, even foreclosed real estate. So the pennies on the dollar are not happening here but we will have stability. (more…)

Have you heard the stories about the multitude of people who either have or are currently making good money by buying foreclosed or short sale homes and reselling them? Have you wanted to get involved in this down economy where opportunities abound? Now you can – without any out of pocket expenses or good credit required.

Home Seller Assist (HSA) makes it easy. They are a membership organization that provides the training, support and private funding for real estate flipping. Joining HSA at their platinum level for $697 opens the door to over $9,000 worth of training that will give you the knowledge of how to purchase short sale or REO properties, and the private funding and Proof of Funds Letters that will give you the power to make the purchase. HSA provides the funds for the seller-investor sale and you find the buyer for the end closing. (more…)

There are many types of properties. Many people hire a realtor to help them or MLS and others go another route; REO’s or Real Estate Owned properties. This is the way lenders hold property on their books that they have taken back from owners.

REO’s and Foreclosures are different:

REO’s are a direct result of a failed foreclosure sale or auction, the property reverts back to the bank. Because a borrower cannot make the payments, the lender has the right to sell the property regardless of whether the owner has moved out or not. (more…)

There’s some money to be earned buying and selling real property, especially REOs, or real estate owned. These are real properties foreclosed by banks and unredeemed by the former owners within the allotted redemption period. Therefore they are now assets owned the bank and may be sold to interested buyers, the former owners included, at usually prices relatively lower than those in the regular real estate business. So the profit potential can be substantial for the intrepid broker.

However, dealing with banks on the matter of REOs can be very frustrating: banks are often terribly painful where REOs are concerned. When a REO property goes for sale, it is usually sold through bidding. The list of REOs is published or posted and a minimum bid is indicated for each piece of property as well as the end date of the bidding. The interested buyer then submits his bid for that property, not knowing if there are competing other bids or none at all.

That’s easy as pie and buying an REO should thus not be a hassle at any stage. But it is, in almost every aspect. Consider my recent example:

A REO came on the market, my first-time homebuyer bid. The bank sent him a series of counteroffer letters stating in effect he should make his ‘best and highest’ bid. The buyer might have been bidding only against himself, because if there were other bids they were not disclosed by the bank to my buyer, but he nevertheless submitted his ‘highest and best’ bid and ‘won’. We requested for an early sales closing and my buyer proceeded to arrange for his loan to purchase the REO property.

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Foreclosures on mortgaged properties happen quite often, but banks and owners do not desire such for simple reasons. The owner will lose his property, while the bank gains something it does not want, nor know what to do with. To forestall such an event, short selling may be the answer to benefit all parties concerned. But it is quite a hassle to do.

Short selling involves much physical work and paper pushing. Even if someone else handles the negotiations, phone calls and paperwork, there is still much labor and some possible frustration in store for the unprepared broker or agent. However, as in many things, there are always ways to make a success out of it. The first requirement is the willingness and desire to help the homeowner.

Even if they personally approached the brokers to sell their home, most homeowners who are in danger of being foreclosed on avoid talking to a stranger about their mortgage problems. This is usually for fear of being preyed upon, in the hope that something will come along to solve the problem, and to minimize the chances of their problems being ‘broadcast’ to others. Being sincere in trying to help them can open them up so that the broker can get the complete picture of the potential sales.

The second requirement in making a success of short-selling a house is to tread very carefully in exploring the reasons the owners are selling for the reasons stated above. Asking less personal questions that should reveal the reasons for selling can lead the conversation to the motivations, so that the parameters of the sales can be determined more quickly. “Why sell”, “At what prices do you believe your property should be sold”, “How fast would you need to sell?” are easy questions that can be important in finding the best way to sell the property.

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