Summary
of what we have learned
Selecting a purchase
Finding a good foreclosure
property to purchase isn't a matter of deciding what you want to buy, where
and when. An investor must select a property from what is available, and buy
at just the right moment.
The time to buy
The best win-window is the
time between the beginning of the foreclosure process and the forced sale at
public auction. There is ample time, six months to a year, to research the
property, contact the owner, conduct inspections and negotiate with both the
lender and the owner for a win-win-win.
Keeping track
When you learn of a
property in foreclosure that meets your investment criteria you should begin
tracking it at every step and watch for opportunity. As situations
change so will attitudes. A smart investor will be waiting and watching with
problem solving ideas.
Buying at auction
The opportunity for the
biggest rewards carry the highest risk. We have learned that buying
foreclosures at the auction is the only step out of the three - before,
during and after the sale - that requires a substantial amount of risk
capital and high level of expertise.
Things aren't what they used to be
The foreclosure investing business is not what it was several years ago. When the economy improved, very low down payment mortgages became widely
available. Now, with any economic slowdown, foreclosure of marginal loans
goes up quickly.
Although inventories of bank owned and government owned properties
are going up, there is little equity available for pre-foreclosure purchase and the
loan judgment amount is higher that most investors will bid at auction.
Unfortunately for you and me, the banks no longer just
give the properties away either. Bank owned opportunities were abundant in
the past, but today lenders make a real effort to sell their properties at
market value.
There are new foreclosure opportunities
today Opportunities will always be
available for investors who are willing to solve problems for property
owners and lenders in exchange for a chance to make a profit. The amount of
profit will likely depend on your knowledge, imagination and perseverance.
Fast Facts:
There is no law requiring a lender to make mortgage foreclosure information
available to anyone.
It is unlikely that you can call
a bank for foreclosure information and get anyone to even talk to you. So
many uniformed buyers called banks in an attempt to buy properties for half
their value that banks do not want to be bothered. People who do not
understand the process and make absurd offers just waste everyone's time.
Foreclosure lawsuits and the transfer
of real property are always recorded in the county courthouse where the
property is located. That makes it public information.
There is no national information source for private lender REOs. The
painstaking accumulation and
recording of each county's foreclosure data is still a daunting and largely imperfect
task.
Click here to
download your Certificate of Completion. The page will open in a new
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Some
lender foreclosure lists
Bank of America REO's
A searchable database of a large
lender's foreclosures.
BuyBankHomes.com
Find
homes by state, city, property type, number of bedrooms or bathrooms, or
price range
CitiBank and CitiMortgage
Search Citibank-owned homes or REO Properties
Countrywind On-Line Lender
Purchase a lender-owned property from the largest independent originator of
real estate loans.
Ocwen
Federal Bank
A leader in acquiring, managing, and resolving nonperforming real estate
loans.
Wilshire
Financial Services
Nationwide independent real estate lender
Government
agency property links
Fannie Mae
Buys real estate loans in the secondary mortgage market.
FDIC
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Freddie Mac
Home steps asset services.
HUD
Housing and Urban Development.
VA
Veterans Administration guarantees lenders VA loans.
A few links to lists
All
Foreclosure Information
Southern California county Data.
ForeclosureNet
National lists of bank and government foreclosures for a fee.
Foreclosure Trac
Metro NY foreclosure data
Foreclosure World
Online multiple listing service
GRP Financial
Services
Nationwide portfolio of REOs
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