Foreclosure Time Is the Best Time to Invest In Real Estate

Posted on January 2, 2009
Filed Under Foreclosure Homes | 3 Comments

Foreclosure time is probably the best time to invest in real estate. Today the name of real estate has become synonymous with foreclosure – because of over supply in the market. But as with everything else, there are rules in the game and a novice could do well to pick up some tips.

Buying a repossessed house is not for the novice. First and foremost the buyer has to be qualified ahead for a mortgage – something that is difficult during these lean times. Bernie Merkel is a broker with Coldwll Banker Schmidt. He cautioned, ‘Especially in today’s economy, our banks won’t look at your offer if you aren’t pre-approved. They don’t want to spend 10 minutes on that.”

The next step is to contact a broker – someone who has expertise in this field. Not every broker will be able to handle the foreclosure market. It needs special knowledge and experience. The paper work connected with foreclosure or even short sales can be awesome. Banks have an army of legal personnel scribbling out a contract that is invariably heavily in favour of banks. So it is best to talk to different brokers and find out how many foreclosure related sales they have handled. Broker Dough Yntema commented, “Anyone whose looking for a foreclosure house should find a real estate agent they’re comfortable with.” The broker will know how to steer through the bumps, nose out hidden clauses and liens and write out an offer that has a good chance of being affirmed. It is well to remember that banks pay commissions for foreclosure related sales.

The buyer should be quite clear about how much he or she is prepared to invest in the house. This involves not just the asking price of the house but also the repairs – whether the repairs should be thorough or merely cosmetic. Yntema further added, “Anybody can get a deal, but you want to find the right house too.” That means taking note of whether it is in the correct school district and other plus points like proximity to place of work etc. The buyer has to be mentally prepared that the house was vacant for quite sometime and hence could very well be badly mauled. Extensive repairs might be required but the banks will loan out only the amount due for the foreclosure. It is best to appoint specialists in each line of repair work and in short be a detective before taking the final plunge.

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