Buying foreclosure property

The increased sales that my office has enjoyed this year, over last year, is in large part due to the number of persons interested in buying foreclosure property. We receive calls and walk-ins daily from those who would like to receive a free list of foreclosures or to learn about the process involved with buying a foreclosure. Our successes are because of our ability to help them find the right property, negotiate a successful contract and close the transaction in a timely manner.

Finding the right foreclosure property

There are over 4500 REO-bank owned homes listed for sale right now and another 4900 that are under contract. With so many properties on the market and more being listed every day, our job includes assisting the buyer with narrowing down their search. We will ask a series of questions that help define what the buyer is really looking for.

• Do they want to buy a home, condo, townhome or villa?
• Are they only interested in a specific county, city or town?
• Do they have a maximum price they are willing to pay for the right house?
• Are there size requirements, the number of bedrooms, and the number of baths that are important to the buyer?
• Are they concerned with the condition of the home or would they be interested in viewing fixer-uppers?

Making the offer to purchase

Once the buyer has viewed a property that they are interested in they will want to make an offer. As part of the offering process we will provide them with information that they can use in deciding on their offer price and terms. When a buyer makes an offer on a foreclosure-bank owned property in our area they need to be aware that:

• Bank owned listings will often receive multiple offers.
• Multiple offers often result in a sales price higher than the list price.
• Banks will often ask the buyer(s) for their highest and best offer.
• When the buyer successfully negotiates a contract with the bank they will be required to review, initial and sign a number of bank addendums.

Closing the transaction

By signing the contract and addendums the buyer has agreed to meet specific timelines and conditions of the sale. A successful closing requires that our agents and our buyer work together to ensure the timelines and conditions are met. The buyer needs to be fully aware of the tasks needing to be accomplished before closing.

• In most cases the property has been purchased As IS and the buyer has a time frame in order to have all of the inspections they deem necessary.
• The buyer will need to deliver the agreed upon escrow amount to the lender’s title agency.
• Surveys, property insurance, appraisals and financing are the responsibility of the buyer and may be needed before closing.

Foreclosure sales will remain a stong part of our market

There have been over 8,000 foreclosure-REO sales this year in the Mid-Florida market area. It is reasonable to expect that as long as the foreclosure listing inventory remains strong, buyers will continue to be interested in buying foreclosure property.

I strongly suggest that when buying property in our area those buyers should speak with one of our distressed property experts. Having a knowledgeable and experienced agent assisting with the purchase provides real value. Contact me to speak with an agent today.

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