How To Find Foreclosures part 1

When you find yourself in a depressed market, it is fairly easy to find foreclosures, but even in a strong real estate market it can be simple.

The only difference between the two markets lies in the number of foreclosures you will find: in falling real eastate markets the number will be higher.  With these tips you will learn how to find foreclosures more easily.

Many pre-foreclosure homes that are offered as short sales will end up as foreclosures which are eventually deeded to the bank.   The reason why purchasers may refuse to buy a short sale home could be any of the following:

• The property is vandalized and/or the home’s assets are stripped by the sellers
• The bank refused to accept less than its present mortgage balance
• The short sale is passed by by the buyers in favor of a hassle-free purchase
• Location and/or neighbourhood of the home was undesirable
• Listing was overpriced at mortgaged amount
• The seller did not qualify for a short sale

You need to keep in mind that not every foreclosure is a great bargain and some can turn into real nightmares.

There are drawbacks to buying foreclosures, but on the other hand some foreclosed homes are diamonds in the rough.  If you don’t have experience with buying foreclosures you may want to hire a real estate agent for guidance and assistance.

Where can you turn to to find foreclosures?  First of all, real estate agents.  Consumers will not have direct access to MLS (multiple listing service).

You can ask your own agent to search for REO’s and when you recognize a listing agent’s name over and over, pull up that agent’s profile and look at his or her listings.  You will probably find a ton of foreclosures at your fingertips this way.

Another great way to find foreclosures is by driving through neighborhoods where you would like to buy.

The riders on the sign post might say: foreclosure; bank-owned or bank repo.  Call the agent whose name is on the sign and get some info on other foreclosure listings that may be coming on the market.

Agents who specialize in foreclosures sometimes wait weeks while the bank management approves the list price so you can get a jump on other buyers by asking about new foreclosures not yet listed.  If you have a buyer’s agent, you can ask him to get this info for you.

A third, great way to find foreclosures are the websites of major banks.  Many banks will maintain online lists of foreclosed properties.  Here are a few national lenders that do this: Countrywide, Bank of America, Chase Mortgage, US Bank.

Tomorrow I will go further with the information on how to find foreclosures that are perfect for you.  In the mean time, if you have questions about anything, please feel free to contact me through the comment section.