There are a few ways to find REO properties. A good place to start is by enlisting the help of a real estate brokerage that can search lists the general public can’t access. Sometimes the brokerage has one or more realtors that focus solely on REO properties; sometimes, they have an entire department dedicated to REO. Second, you can look online at websites like Foreclosure.com, Auction.com, and RealtyTrac.com. Just be aware that you might have to become a paid member in order to search these sites. In addition, you can look at government and bank loan sites, which often list relevant properties. You can search national and regional banks and the government-run sites HomePath.com (Fannie Mae) and HomeSteps.com (Freddie Mac).
Short Sales
The 2017 NAR® Investment & Vacation Home Buyers Survey also looked at how many investors bought properties through short sales: 17%. A short sale occurs when the buyer purchases a property for less than what’s still owed on the mortgage. The lender must approve of the transaction. They usually do this when the seller is going through a hardship (divorce, health problems, job loss, etc.), and the home doesn’t have enough equity to cover the balance of the mortgage, especially when factoring in sale costs. Part of the process of short sales is that sellers must give the bank their financials. What exactly this entails varies between banks, but the process tends to be comparable. Why would lenders be okay with getting less than they’re owed? Because the loss they take in short sales can be less than the loss they’d take if the home went into foreclosure. Plus, they won’t have to deal with marketing and selling the property. Just so it’s clear, this doesn’t mean you’ll get the deal of the century on a
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