Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Bank Owned Property Have You Ever Wondered

By Steven McCarthy

What does buying your first house and bank owned property have in common. For most people when they hear about foreclosure, they 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.

How would you like the chance to buy a property way below market value, that is the leverage of buying bank owned property. Many times there is not a lot of repairs and very little wrong with the property. There are so many homes out there right now just waiting for someone to discover. The really good deals out there that can put you in the home of your dreams. Without the savings from foreclosure investing it may just be a pipe dream for you to buy a home of your own on your current budget.

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.

This sober reality, along with a considerable number of properties in their portfolios, causes the banks and lenders to be very motivated to sell at a much more reasonable price. They want to sell off as many of their portfolio properties as possible to free up their capital, So they can then reinvest that capital, and get a return on their new investment. To make that happen, they must sell the foreclosed properties. This gives them motivation to sell the properties as quickly as possible.

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.

The idea of creative financing is not a new idea, and historically with the price of everything rising all the time everybody has become very adept in the creative structuring of their finances and that is the essence of foreclosure investing. You want to think creatively about the financing for the bank owned property in a unique way, What you want to do is set up the financing on the property in a way that makes it not only pay for itself, but provide a healthy steady profit for years to come.

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