Buying Foreclosure Properties

Buying real estate that is facing foreclosure, or has been foreclosed buy the bank, presents a great buying opportunity. These properties are often sold at well below market value. Now, if only you could find them. A little hunting online can reveal these great opportunities.

Finding Foreclosure Properties

Foreclosures become part of the public record. Once a mortgage is in default by three to six months, the lender will issue a Notice of Default with the county registrar. These pre-foreclosure properties can be found through the local courthouse or county registrar, or whichever local government body controls property deeds.

Three months after the notice of default, if the mortgage has not been brought up to date, the lender will then issue a Notice of Sale. This too will be recorded with the local county registrar. These notice's of foreclosure sale will often be advertised in the newspaper. The notice will indicate the date and location of an auction where the foreclosure property will be sold.

A quicker and easier way to find foreclosure properties is to search online through sites that maintain up to date lists of foreclosures. Foreclosure.com is one of the largest sites for this purpose. They maintain lists of thousands of pre-foreclosure properties and foreclosure sales nationwide as they come onto the market. There service requires a monthly subscription to access their constantly updated data. But they do offer a 7 day free trial to test their service. This is well worth trying out.

Buying Foreclosure Properties

After locating potential foreclosure properties you can either contact the owner to discuss buying the property before it goes to auction. This can difficult. Many distressed home owners who are facing foreclosure will often bury their head in the sand rather than deal with the impending loss of their home. But if you are successful in dealing directly with the owner you can purchase the property for the remainder owed on the property plus a few thousand as walking money for the seller.

If the mortgage on the property is not brought up to date within 3 months an auction date will be set. The foreclosure property can then be purchased at the auction.

In a foreclosure auction you will be competing with the lender who will place the first bid on the property. This bid will be their cost to cover the remainder on the loan plus any fees incurred. You must bid higher than this in order to become the owner.

Have your finances in order before placing bids. Should you be the winning bid at a foreclosure auction you will need to come up with the funds quickly as you will then become committed to the purchase. A significant cash deposit will need to be placed on the property immediately.

How to make offers on foreclosure real estate

Real Estate Directory >  Foreclosure

Resources | Site Map