• Interesting government, private, and nonprofit options • 10 cultural hot spots where home prices really are a bargain (or at least reasonable)
Still want to step up to the foreclosure challenge? Well, all right then! Finding a foreclosure property that you want might take as much patience as buying one. Foreclosures are, thankfully, getting less and less common. Distressed sales accounted for only 5 percent of sales in January 2018. (After the 2008 crash, it was as much as 50 percent in some places.) But if you’ve read this far, you’ve got patience covered. So here’s how to get started. Get to know the four types of foreclosure properties. We touched on them earlier. The most well-known, a foreclosure auction, happens at a certain point in what’s usually a long process. You can buy before or after that too. Find a highly experienced real estate agent. Such as one with a Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource (SFR) designation from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). “You definitely do not want a novice handling a short sale or a foreclosure property,” says Lane, who is an SFR. Here’s the NAR lookup page. Line up your financing early. Like we said, even lenders who will write loans for distressed properties don’t especially like to. A good agent will know which lenders are most likely to give you a green light. Find a great home inspector. Remember, whatever stage of the foreclosure process you buy at, these are homes whose owners were financially stressed. They might have neglected important maintenance and repairs, not all of which will be obvious.
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