Thursday, July 03, 2008

Bank Owned Property Ever Wonder How It Works

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.

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.

Knowledge is definitely power! If the property makes sense for you, then you must act fast and make the purchase before other investors scoop it up. Buying a foreclosed property requires that you follow many steps. In most cases of foreclosure, the lender(usually a bank) has taken back ownership of the house.

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.

As a real estate investor you will view many properties, hiring a professional home inspector will protect you from hidden problems that need repair adding extra expense to the property, another perk to hiring a home inspector and developing a working relationship with them is by walking with them and asking questions you will start to pick-up on how to spot potential problems for yourself which will help you narrow down your list to more profitable choices.

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.

Make sure you get pre approved for a mortgage loan, it is always helpful to get that pre approval with the bank your trying to buy the bank owned property from it just makes the process go much smoother and faster. As I have said many times before mortgage lenders make money from the interest on loans they make, not by foreclosing on property owners, when they foreclose on a property the interest payments stop, so they are highly motivated to sell that property and get those interest payments started again.

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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