How do I find out about foreclosures?
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Answer:
Wow, I'm glad you weren't my real estate agent! What an attitude!
Call a Realtor. Ours showed us several foreclosures. Here here's the real deal. The house we bought (a foreclosure) had been vacant for 2 years, and had not been well maintained prior to that. The bank accepted our offer the day we made it. It still took 6 weeks to close. There was a bunch of extra paperwork releasing the bank from any responsibility for things not working. Once we turned the power on the furnace, fridge and hot water heater did not work. Hot water heater was fixed for $20 in parts, and the furnace for an $85 service call. We did have to buy a new fridge. We have had to replace all of the floor coverings, gut the kitchen & bathroom, fix the roof, cut out some drywall, and mess with the plumbing. We knew all of this going in. We have done all of the work ourselves (except for the furnace, and one niggly little spot on the plumbing). We are almost done now, and it is finally starting to feel like home. We paid less than half of market value for similar houses in this neighborhood, even after the improvements. My advice to you would be to find a Realtor, and let them know what you are looking for. There are many, many Realtors out there.
Most mortgage companies list the foreclosures they have for sale on their websites.
it depends a bit on what state you are in.
there are two types of proceedings. The county
courthouse is helpful as is the web.
But it is important to understand the process otherwise
the banks/lawyers/etc.. will have you chasing your tail.
The key is to find the homeowners in distress.
You can do that by researching at the courthouse,
buying lists, marketing to these people, knocking
on doors, etc...
My wife is a paralegal who does this and says the process
is important to know so you don't get the runaroudn
joe
Try foreclosures.com
First you need to have a lot of patience and time. Second you need to get a desperate real estate agent who is willing to have you yell at them for several months solid. Third you have to do everything the way the bank wants, you get no say. And Finally you must see your doctor and get a perscription for a tranquilizer.
I have worked on 5 forclosures with clients. Banks, especially big banks, do things how ever they want. They disregard every time line, and sell them as is no warranty to the condition of the home. I have actually only ever heard back from one bank on an offer and they wanted full market value (we were the only offer) The ceiling had fallen down due to a water line break to the AC.
They are a pain. So, unless you have all the time in the world, and don't easily get emotional I wouldn't recommend it. If you are not in a time crunch, look into it. But, don't expect to find anything for less than 10% below market value. And be prepared to repair things.
I always help my clients with what they need or want. I will help any of them with a forclosure if they choose. However, I have had horrible luck with these. As I said the banks here generally do not even respond. I have one offer that has been out for over 6 months. No answer from the bank. Here the market is going up so quickly that there are very few forclosures, people are able to sell before it gets to that point. So the very few, there are 100's of offers put in on them. And most of them are in extreme disrepair. The last one I was in had no sheetrock, the windows were all broken, and had gang graffiti all over it. Not one of my clients looking at forclosures bought a forclosure. They found people who had their houses on the market trying to sell it before forclosure. They got great deals.
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