[jatepper]

I am interested in finding good deals on foreclosed properties. If you google "foreclosures" then you get a list of sites where you have to pay money to search foreclosures.

Does anyone know a good, free source? I have gone to Wells Fargo and other bank sites and have looked at their foreclosures, but all of them seem to be priced at current market values. I see no extra value buying a foreclosure based on the small amount of homes I looked at on these sites.

THe newspaper has some, but they are all auction. The public notices are kind of hard to really understand, but it seems these foreclosed properties start at auction at the original purchase price from the foreclosed original owner.

How can I get properties CHEAP without paying for some sort of service?

[rlj]

In your area there should be real estate companies that only sell foreclosures on behalf of the lending institution. I know in Atlanta there are three or four good real estate groups. Google REO real estate "in your area" and you should come up with a few. You may need to dig around a little. REO means real estate owned, the bank owns it. There are also law firms that deal with pre-foreclosures as well and contacting them is helpful as well as banks are now trying to do whatever they can not to go through the foreclosure process and often will cut a deal direct. It cost a bank a lot of money to foreclose a property and they prefer not to go through all the legal bull**** to do it when they know they're going to end up selling the property for a loss anyway.

Most of the pay sites have dated information and is often incorrect and direct you to agents that buy ad space and they do not represent the bank. I prefer dealing with an agent that represents the bank exclusively and avoid most pay sites.

You can sign up for a 7 day trial on some pay sites to give you a feel of whats out there. Foreclosures.com is one of them. As mentioned, the data is somewhat suspect however it will get your feet wet.

[ionakana]

I'm looking too. I've checked out several of the foreclosure sites, most are a joke, by the time a decent property hit their site it had already been sold. The one I like/use and got off Clark Howards website is owners.com, http://ownerscom.foreclosure.com/?PID=fore&OVID=a28adf13-56bd-49bc-a3fe-682b5424f1e4&loc=BNB It's not free but it's legit. Every bank and website is going to have the houses priced at market value but trust me, they will take less. I've bought and flipped several. If you have never bought a foreclosure then you need to get a realtor who has, it won't cost you a thing.

[rogasm]

In the market now, it is tough to find foreclosed properties at a discount. I do a lot of work on short sale properties and those are the best bets. Craigs list is a good source to find those properties that will be sold as a short sale. Most of those will be discounted more than the foreclosures since the bank has already taken on a huge loss by getting the previous owner out.

[Matt Gertsch]

Short sales are the **** right now. Contact the lenders in your area for their short sale list.

[LostINohiO]

well if you really want to capitalize on other peoples misery, then here is an idea for you:

buy out people dying of AIDS life insurance policies for 20% of what you will make when they finally die...

it will give them ten grand to play with and "enjoy" the rest of their life and then when they kick it you will make 50 grand...

[Hilldweller]

I talked to the loan officer at my bank and got thier list of properties that were about to be listed. I cherry-picked what I wanted from there.

[jatepper]

Originally Posted by LostINohiO

well if you really want to capitalize on other peoples misery, then here is an idea for you:

buy out people dying of AIDS life insurance policies for 20% of what you will make when they finally die...

it will give them ten grand to play with and "enjoy" the rest of their life and then when they kick it you will make 50 grand...

Brilliant. Nobody needs to hear your dumb, sarcastic remarks.

[LittleBee]

Originally Posted by LostINohiO

well if you really want to capitalize on other peoples misery, then here is an idea for you:

buy out people dying of AIDS life insurance policies for 20% of what you will make when they finally die...

it will give them ten grand to play with and "enjoy" the rest of their life and then when they kick it you will make 50 grand...

You are ****ing stupid. I see some bad stuff on here. But that was just wrong. A little bitter are you.

[rlj]

Be sure to check out the Fannie May and Freddie Mac sites.........

Most of the bank listing will direct you to a local real estate professional, another way to find local agents in your area that deal with foreclosed property.


A List of REO Databases

REO, or Real Estate Owned, is property that failed to sale at a foreclosure auction and is now owned by a bank. Below is a free list of banks and links to their REO property.

Some links below lead directly to the lenders REO Department while other link to third party websites that provide REO services for the lender.

Countrywide REO:
http://www.countrywide.com/purchase/f_reo.asp

Bank of America REO:
http://bankofamerica.reo.com/search/

HSBC REO:
http://www.banking.us.hsbc.com/

IndyMac Bank REO:
http://apps.indymacbank.com/individuals/realestate/search.asp

Ocwen Financial REO:
http://www.ocwen.com/reo/home.cfm

JP Morgan Chase Bank REO:
http://mortgage.chase.com/pages/other/co_properties_landing.jsp

M&T Bank REO:
http://services.mandtbank.com/personal/bank_owned_prop.cfm

Wells Fargo REO:
https://www.pasreo.com/reo/

American Home Mortgage REO:
They aren't taking mortgage applications anymore but they are selling real estate, go figure.
http://www.ahmhomes.com

SunTrust REO:
SunTrust Mortgage, Inc website claims that all REO is listed with local real estate agents. Below is a link to their REO practices.
http://www.suntrustmortgage.com/reo.asp

Compass Bank REO:
https://www.compassbank.com/appforms/properties/index.jsp

Fannie Mae REO:
http://www.mortgagecontent.net/reoSearchApplication/fanniemae/

Freddie Mac REO:
http://www.homesteps.com/hm01_1featuresearch.htm

HUD REO:
http://www.hud.gov/homes/index.cfm

HomeSales.gov also offers properties offered for sale by the government.

Regions Bank Properties
http://realestate.regions.com/servlet/Ore/ForeclosedPropertySearch.jsp

Citibank REO
http://www.citimortgage.com/Mortgage/Oreo/SearchListing.do

SBA Properties
http://app1.sba.gov/pfsales/dsp_search.html

FDIC Real Estate Owned
http://www4.fdic.gov/DRRORE/

Sallie Mae Financial Services Properties
http://www.grpcapital.com/properties/index.html

BB&T REO (Branch Bank and Trust)
http://www.bbt.com/applications/specialassets/search.asp

Beal Bank Commercial REO
http://www.bealbank.com/Content.aspx?ID=13

GRP Financial Services Properties
http://www.grpcapital.com/properties/index.php

Fifth Third Bank REO:
No information is available online.

People's Bank REO
http://www.peoples.com/im/cda/multi_elements/0,,1355,00.html

National City Mortgage REO
http://www.ncmcreo.com/

[Chris_]

My brother and I bought a bunch of tax liens in Colorado a few years ago, but they were all paid off. I wonder with the economy being crap if we might actually get the property buying liens now. In some counties, it's pretty easy to get the property, but your money is tied up for at least three years, then if you file for the deed, you're stuck figuring out what to do with property you own in Colorado.

[jatepper]

Originally Posted by rlj

Be sure to check out the Fannie May and Freddie Mac sites.........

Most of the bank listing will direct you to a local real estate professional, another way to find local agents in your area that deal with foreclosed property.

Thanks for the list! Looked them through and found some interesting things!

[rlj]

Originally Posted by jatepper

Thanks for the list! Looked them through and found some interesting things!

Remember.......these are fair market value asking prices, an offer should be based on a much lower number. That number will vary depending on how many foreclosures are in a certain market. If there are a lot in one area, banks will be competing against one another selling their REO properties to investors. There is no rule of thumb however I typically make offers +/- 30% of asking price, sometimes less. All a bank can say is NO and you can always offer more.

One way to look at these properties is how long have they been on the market, the longer the better for bargain hunters.

[jatepper]

Originally Posted by rlj

Remember.......these are fair market value asking prices, an offer should be based on a much lower number. That number will vary depending on how many foreclosures are in a certain market. If there are a lot in one area, banks will be competing against one another selling their REO properties to investors. There is no rule of thumb however I typically make offers +/- 30% of asking price, sometimes less. All a bank can say is NO and you can always offer more.

One way to look at these properties is how long have they been on the market, the longer the better for bargain hunters.

Well said. Thanks for the advice and information. I will PM you and let you know how it goes. Thanks again.

[jatepper]

Well, I made an offer on a short sale property. It is really nice. It is a 2 bedroom / 2 bathroom condo with all tile. Corner Unit with 2 car detached garage. Upgraded everything except appliances. The lady who currently owns it paid 190k for it in the housing boom and I guess she has fallen behind with the payments. I was looking at a local realtors web page and this one said "subject to short sale" in captions next to the listing. Made an appointment with the realtor this past Friday and it looked better in person then it did in the pics.

The asking price was $154k. I offered $110k with the bank paying for all the closing costs. The lady still lives in there. The good thing is that if this goes through, I can probably talk to the lady about her becoming my tenant. She wont have to move and rent will be much cheaper then her previous mortgage. After all, I am buying this solely as an investment property.

The realtor said I can expect to hear back from the bank within 1-4 weeks. She said she is calling every day to check on the status. Sounds like she is proactive, so I hope she is a good realtor. Realtor of the year for Coldwell Banker 4 years in a row!