Bank Owned Property Now Is Right The Time
July 29, 2008
Bank owned property can be a treasure-trove for investors. The American mortgage industry is inundated with foreclosure’s, with no relief in site. With the rising cost of fuel spurring price hikes in just about everything you can think of, and the credit card companies doubling their minimum payments family’s that were teetering on the financial edge are now plummeting into ruin.
You definitely want to be pre-approved for a mortgage before you start searching for properties. If you think about it, it just makes good sense, how will you know your price range if your not pre-approved. After you receive your pre-approval ask you bank for a list of their bank owned properties, buying a property from the bank that pre-approves you for a mortgage would make things much smoother.
So what does purchasing your first home and bank owned property have in common. For most of us when we hear about foreclosure, we are not thinking about the investment potential. What strikes my mind is the monumental opportunity some lucky investor will have by taking the time to structure a deal that makes it possible for the bank to get the property off their books, and for you the investor to make a hearty profit.
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.
Besides the price and availability of bank owned properties, they also make owning a home more affordable. The prices for homes have fallen, yet still remains out of reach. You may need a single family home, but cannot find one that fits your pocket. Foreclosures are basically bad news for some and good news for others. For the savvy investor, these are the days when investment properties are not only abundant, but priced to sell.
Now is the time you can get the best price on the size house you want. The economy is not in very good shape today. Many people cannot afford to make car or home payments. This leaves the ones who have saved up in the past at an advantage. How long have you been saving for a house of your own? How would you like twenty to forty percent more property for the same price as traditionally purchased real estate, looking into bank owned property can save you big money.
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.
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