How to Find Foreclosed Home Bargains

If you are not in the real estate business, you will find dozens of foreclosed property Web sites to search. Even forsalebyowner.com lists foreclosures now. Wow! Is the Internet the ultimate source of information, or what?

What! Foreclosed properties are truly the ultimate example of how people’s perceptions of the Internet lure them into a false sense of empowerment when searching for a home or investment property. There are several „realities“ that make shopping for that ultimate „steal“ without agency representation a pointless boondoggle. Here’s the reality check for foreclosures:

1. Foreclosed homes are all listed by real estate agents-all of them!
   1. Lenders do not FSBO. They realize that the marketing power of agency representation gives them the edge in selling their inventory of foreclosed properties.
   2. Agents love it when unrepresented buyers contact them about their foreclosure listings.
      1. They only have to answer questions that the buyer is informed enough to ask,
      2. and do not have to inform them about important considerations when buying a foreclosed property.
2. Foreclosed homes are not the only „bargains“ available, and the others are listed by agents as well:
   1. Short sales are often better bargains, and a lot less stressful to buy.
      1. They are better bargains, because they are discounted as much as foreclosed properties, and the owner must provide a Seller’s Disclosure of Property Condition-and the property is almost always in better condition that a foreclosure.
      2. They are less stressful transactions, because new regulation requires that the lender respond to a buyer’s offer within 10 days in most instances.
   2. The market is so distressed, and has been distressed long enough that many sellers, especially those in the high-end and luxury home market, are letting their homes go for foreclosure level prices-and paying significant portions of buyer closing costs!
   3. The level to which home prices have fallen and buyer incentives have become fixtures in the negotiations has all but made the price of foreclosed homes uncompetitive.

All the old realities about buying a home still apply. Buyers benefit most by first finding a good agent to represent them. Unless a buyer searches only for FSBO properties, an agent will be involved in the transaction, and only agents who have entered into an agency representation agreement with a buyer will be representing the buyer. The answer to the question of how to find foreclosed home bargains is in three parts. Find a good buyer’s agent, let the agent do the heavy lifting, and look for the bargain, whether a foreclosure or not.

Immobilienmakler Heidelberg

Makler Heidelberg