How can you purchase foreclosure properties?

Question:

Me and my girlfriend are thinking about flipping a house in the near future and have found some pretty good deals on yahoo real estate, but we want to know how we can purchase one of these homes that are in the last stage of foreclosure. My best friend is a contractor and all I need to do is buy the property in the best area. Please help.

Answer:
You should find out when your local court hold foreclosure hearings. Here they are held the first Tuesday of the Month. At the foreclosure hearings you have an opportunity to find out who the lender is and may be able to speak with the lender directly, thus, avoiding the realtors fees. Ultimately the lending agency wants to get the foreclosure off its books.

Another avenue to locate foreclosures is on www.hud.gov. There is substantial list of properties many with minor problems well below market and with built-in equity.

Contact the realtor that has the house listed. When banks fully forclose then they always list with a realtor, so if it is not for sale yet then you will have to wait then contact the realotr. Or you could get a realtor of your own to find foreclosed properties for you.

You can contact the mortgage holder and see how much they'll take for it. They are required to ask for what is owed on the home but sometimes will take even less than that.

If it is being auctioned you make your bid at your county court house. Then there is a wait period to see if someone else beats your bid. This can go on and on for a long time. If after the waiting period you are the highest bidder, you have 24 hours to make the payment in full. That way of buying can be difficult due to not knowing how long it will go on and you don't really know in the end how much you will have to have to buy the home. Unless you have money in the bank that you can withdraw at a moments notice, the auction is harder to do.

I'm presuming when you say that it's in the "last stage of foreclosure", you are referring to a house that is still occupied and the owners are losing the house? In this case, contact the owners, discuss their options, settle on a price that takes into account the backpayments on the loan, the unpaid taxes, etc. Then, you can get a new loan to buy the house, or work out a way to catch up the loan and refinance it.

It's a legally complex issue so get qualified advice.

Good Luck!

Todd

How can you purchase foreclosure properties?

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