Foreclosure homes- How to find them? (Queen Creek: mortgage broker, loan, real estate)

[Kabfon]

As I mentioned in a different thread, I am looking at buying a vacation home. Does anyone know how you access forclosure homes? Auctions, ect? Are they listed anywhere if so where? Can anyone make a recommendation?

[IcantSELLmyHouse]

Just drive around they are everywhere. This forum wont let us post any links do a yahoo search for the topic

[Master Shake]

I think I read somewhere that there was no legitimate location for finding recent forclosures -- you basically had to go to the county (or maybe local city) court houses for the list. Any of the so called online lists (especially the ones that you paid for) either had very old and/or inaccurate information, or just made up addresses.

However, some of the bigger realtor listing sites list many, many houses as forclosure, bank owned, etc. Perhaps this is because so many houses have been sitting on the market for 120+ days?

[jorgitoz]

It depends on what stage of the foreclosure you're looking at. If you want pre-foreclosures or foreclosed (known as REO or real estate owned or bank repos, etc.) a realtor would come in really handy. Most realtors don't charge for this service, but it's also a good way to know if you are working with a good realtor or not. Word of mouth (not likely you'll find one this way) and driving around is another way of finding them. Things to look for is landscape maintenance, and the overall feel for the house. You can tell which houses are vacant. Once you find these you take down the address and find out when the trustee sale is happening (if there is one) and try to buy it at the trustee sale which happens at the courthouse steps at 2:00 pm monday through friday. This is not an easy task and is why you only see about 3-10 people there and no sales happening most of the time.
Good Luck

[Nice Nice Baby!]

The key is if you can get access to the home to inspect before bidding.

[Kabfon]

Jorgitoz,

Thanks for your reply. What do you mean by the fact that it is not an easy task to buy through an auction? I am thinking of looking around the Queen Creek area. Do you know if there is more savings to be made from buying from a auction versus a foreclosure? I would really appreciate any pros and cons of the different manner of buying a home.

Thanks

[LovestheSun]

Thanks Kabfon for this question. I too am interested in knowing more about the pros and cons of home auctions, and whether it is even possible to buy a home in the Queen's creek neighborhood through an auction process, or is it likely to be a equal or better deal if we just purchased the property through the usual means of dealing directly with the home builder/real estate company.

Thanks.

[jorgitoz]

Originally Posted by Kabfon

Jorgitoz,

Thanks for your reply. What do you mean by the fact that it is not an easy task to buy through an auction? I am thinking of looking around the Queen Creek area. Do you know if there is more savings to be made from buying from a auction versus a foreclosure? I would really appreciate any pros and cons of the different manner of buying a home.

Thanks

I didn't really refer to an auction but I'll answer your question either way. Foreclosure is a word that is thrown around with different meanings. Like I said, there are different stages in a foreclosure when you can buy the property. You can buy a pre-foreclosure (when owner falls behind on payments and the bank sends them a "lis pendens" notice), you can buy a foreclosure (when the actual trustee sale happens), or a foreclosed property (known as REO, or bank repo). None of these are better than the other, it just depends on the situation. I'll assume that by auction you meant the trustee sale and here's why it's not as easy to buy through the trustee sale. First, you don't really know the house. You have to really investigate what's behind the title history to know how many liens are against it. You have to find out if there are any insurance claims against the house (this can affect your ability to get insurance yourself). You can't do an inspection prior to buying a house. All this and other small details are basically the first step to buying on a trustee sale. Let's say you do your homework and know of a house that you want to buy, and are OK with the latter. You then go to the trustee sale (provided you know the date when it's happening). The trustee sale is essentially an auction. Most trustee sales get postponed, but let's say that it doesn't. In order for you to bid, you have to write them a check for 10K dollars (that will be your earnest money if you do bid). You then make your bid and if it does get accepted, you must pay the price bid by no later than 5:00pm the next day (unless it's the weekend). What this means is that unless you have cash, it'll be pretty hard to get financing in that short of a time frame. Now let's talk about an auction. The idea behind an auction is to get people who are interested in the house to bid on it close to market value or higher. Each auction is structured different and the reserve (the lowest price the seller will take) is different from each house. So again, it will be a case by case basis whether it is a good deal or not.
As far as pros and cons, there really isn't any that apply to them all. Foreclosures don't always allow inspections but sometimes you can do one (it'll be at your own expense, but well worth it if you are buying the house)

[jorgitoz]

Originally Posted by LovestheSun

Thanks Kabfon for this question. I too am interested in knowing more about the pros and cons of home auctions, and whether it is even possible to buy a home in the Queen's creek neighborhood through an auction process, or is it likely to be a equal or better deal if we just purchased the property through the usual means of dealing directly with the home builder/real estate company.

Thanks.

Here's how I'll answer your question. Can you get a good deal through a foreclosure? yes. Can you get a good deal through a home builder? yes. Can you get a good deal through whatever method you choose? yes. There's no one better way to buy a house. Your 2 biggest concerns you should have is
1. Do you have a good Realtor helping you?
2. Do you have a good mortgage broker helping you? (unless you're buying cash)
Choosing the wrong Realtor can cost you THOUSANDS of dollars. Now let's say you get one that has a way to help you find the best properties out there and he finds you a house for 90% to 95% of market value. It would be a good buy, but it won't do you any good if you have a 13% apr interest rate on your loan. You'll be paying a lot for it in the long run. If you find a good realtor they will more than likely know a good lender that won't *********. Things to look out for in a realtor.
-Do they have a system in place you help you find the type of properties you are looking for? (this includes any foreclosures, bank owned properties, or other distress sales)
-Can they help you get the best financing (they will send you to more than one lender and encourage you to look on your own as well)
-Are they investors (funny, but you'd be surprised how many real estate agents can't buy a house for themselves)

Hope this really helps!

Good luck

[Kabfon]

Originally Posted by jorgitoz

Here's how I'll answer your question. Can you get a good deal through a foreclosure? yes. Can you get a good deal through a home builder? yes. Can you get a good deal through whatever method you choose? yes. There's no one better way to buy a house. Your 2 biggest concerns you should have is
1. Do you have a good Realtor helping you?
2. Do you have a good mortgage broker helping you? (unless you're buying cash)
Choosing the wrong Realtor can cost you THOUSANDS of dollars. Now let's say you get one that has a way to help you find the best properties out there and he finds you a house for 90% to 95% of market value. It would be a good buy, but it won't do you any good if you have a 13% apr interest rate on your loan. You'll be paying a lot for it in the long run. If you find a good realtor they will more than likely know a good lender that won't *********. Things to look out for in a realtor.
-Do they have a system in place you help you find the type of properties you are looking for? (this includes any foreclosures, bank owned properties, or other distress sales)
-Can they help you get the best financing (they will send you to more than one lender and encourage you to look on your own as well)
-Are they investors (funny, but you'd be surprised how many real estate agents can't buy a house for themselves)

Hope this really helps!

Good luck

Thanks for your helpful reply.... I am planning on paying cash, does that change anything?