Friday, July 4, 2008

Bank Owned Property Have You Ever Considered

By Steven McCarthy


Bank owned property can be the holy grail for real estate investors. American mortgage lenders are ripe with foreclosure's, with no end in site. With the sky rocketing cost of oil propelling the price hikes in just about everything you can think of, and the new credit card regulations that were supposed to ease the burden on the American public allowed credit card companies to double their minimum payments causing family's that were struggling on the edge are now falling into ruin.

This is a very serious problem for the mortgage lenders as well as the property owner. The lender want's to regain the money tied-up in the property. The home owner has bill's piling up, they are missing payments and praying for a miracle before they hit rock bottom and lose everything.

Then they receive the letter from the bank stating they have started foreclosure proceedings. Unfortunately, this is when most property owners just give up and ride their misfortune into the ground. It can take ten to fifteen years for your credit to recover from foreclosure.

Any property that is a bank owned property can be called an REO. "real estate owned". All banks want to recoup as much of the money they put into the property as they can and still get it off their books as fast as market conditions allow. Often a bank owned property can be priced 5-30% below current market value. Dealing with a bank on your own can prove difficult,that is why the services of a real estate agent with experience buying bank foreclosure properties is something you should seriously consider before approaching a bank with your offer.

That is how a foreclosure investor can become the white knight in this situation by showing the property owner how they can sell the property ( and put some money in their pocket to pay off some bill's) before it is taken from them ruining their credit history and leaving them with nothing but debt.

Don't underestimate the cost of repairs. You should get estimates from a couple of well established contractors. Don't forget that repairs on a home will take time. If your plan is to sell the house, factor in the time it will take to fix it up. Remember contractors are notorious for not staying on schedule. Try to find a reliable contractor that you like to work with, by using the same contractor on many different properties you will find they understand what your trying to do and the work will go much smoother.

This motivation, combined with the principle of supply and demand, results in foreclosed properties being available to investors below their market value. The difference between what an investor sells a property for, minus acquisition cost and expense, is the investor's profit. Investors can increase this profit in two ways. The first is to maximize what they sell the property for by making improvements. Since foreclosed properties are taken against the wishes of the homeowners, they will not be in pristine shape without some work before re-selling, as a traditionally marketed real estate is.

You need to be thorough and competent, you must keep a written file of all your research before buying a property, and carefully review all the information and make sure you have covered all the bases. A good way to back yourself up would be to have professional people to work with you by building yourself a network with a reliable handy man, a real estate agent with experience in purchasing bank owned property.

About the Author:

Add to: File Insurance Business article Teen Photo Images

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Mobile Reviews Updates

Copyright © 2007 - 2008 Hitvahot.Com.All Rights Reserved.
Template by - Daya Earth Blogger Template | Powered by Blogger.Com | Resources | Privacy Policy | Contact | RSS by Feedburner | Top
Hitvahot.com Article - Business article directory featuring loans,loans, debt, business, insurance, bad credit loans, cash advance, mortgages, payday loans, personal loans, christian dating, online degrees, bankruptcy, credit cards, credit repair, debt consolidations, debt relief, refinancing, business opportunity, distance learning, lead generation, cheap auto insurance, health insurance, life insurance, anorexia, directory.