Forclosure Hunting (Virginia Beach: bank owned, for sale, real estate market)

[BargainHunter2151]

Hello. I'm interested in investing in properties, and I want to go after forclosures. I spoke with an agent, and she told me that they don't sell forclosed homes because they don't get paid. I asked how do I find out about forclosures and she said to go to the courthouse.

?

Anyone with experience help me?

[shellytc]

Bargainhunter, i saw your post on the real estate forum as well. she is incorrect. there are REO's on the market all the time!! bank owned properties that are for sale. if you were to go to the courthouse steps, you need to have cash!! not usually doable.

The hard part in this area is we don't have a search criteria for foreclosure and bank owned. I will DM you with some ideas...

shelly

[rtandc]

Well the agent is right and wrong at the same time...it all depends on what step the homeowner is in the foreclosure process.....Once the foreclosure process is completed and the title goes back to the back yes it is then REO'ed and placed on the MLS and most banks pay the standard 6% but several are cutting back to 4-5%....You can also find agents listing short sales but they are more of a pain to deal with as a buyer......But I think you might be surprised at the number of people that just give up and walk away on their home without ever listing it for sale......

[shellytc]

that is what I meant... sorry if it sounded like something else... ???::

shelly

[rtandc]

I have always been a spoke person for the saying "real estate is one of the safest markets you can play." but that said unless you have money you can invest and not worry about losing it I would stay away from the real estate market right now......

Forbes and several other big name financial sites has the Virginia Beach area the #1 area in the Nation where homeowners are losing value in their properties the fastest.

I am not sure if I am allowed to post links to other sites on this forum but I will and if it is not allowed mods please delete.....

In Depth: Where U.S. Homeowners Are Losing Value Fastest - Forbes.com

Where U.S. Homeowners Are Losing Value Fastest - Yahoo! Real Estate

Now does that mean doom and gloom for this area, not necessarily but getting back to the question the OP asked...Unless you have experience in buying and selling properties, and I am guessing you dont by you asking these questions .....my advise to you would be.......be very careful what you try to buy right now even if you go the REO route or you might find yourself owning properties that are worth much less then what you have invested in them....The local market is very volatile right now and home prices are all over the board even in the same zip codes or neighborhoods and until the market stabilizes some who knows where the bottom might end up....so if you want to play the game, play it but I would be very careful over the next several months and maybe just wait and see what programs the Feds and the market giants are looking at offering people in need as those programs will effect the whole housing market before it is all said and done.

[janeannwho]

There are foreclosure bus tours in Virginia Beach, I know the Woods group does some.

[chesapeakesim]

Originally Posted by rtandc

I have always been a spoke person for the saying "real estate is one of the safest markets you can play." but that said unless you have money you can invest and not worry about losing it I would stay away from the real estate market right now......

Forbes and several other big name financial sites has the Virginia Beach area the #1 area in the Nation where homeowners are losing value in their properties the fastest.

I am not sure if I am allowed to post links to other sites on this forum but I will and if it is not allowed mods please delete.....

In Depth: Where U.S. Homeowners Are Losing Value Fastest - Forbes.com

Where U.S. Homeowners Are Losing Value Fastest - Yahoo! Real Estate

Now does that mean doom and gloom for this area, not necessarily but getting back to the question the OP asked...Unless you have experience in buying and selling properties, and I am guessing you dont by you asking these questions .....my advise to you would be.......be very careful what you try to buy right now even if you go the REO route or you might find yourself owning properties that are worth much less then what you have invested in them....The local market is very volatile right now and home prices are all over the board even in the same zip codes or neighborhoods and until the market stabilizes some who knows where the bottom might end up....so if you want to play the game, play it but I would be very careful over the next several months and maybe just wait and see what programs the Feds and the market giants are looking at offering people in need as those programs will effect the whole housing market before it is all said and done.

Those articles are pretty interesting. The funny thing is that I have heard so many realtors in HR say that real estate is local and the weakness in housing you hear about on the news is only in California/Florida/etc. and that this area isn't impacted. However, with over 1/3 of homeowners underwater I can't see how it could not impact HR. Especially since many are forced to move cause of the military so they won't be able to ride it out. It will be interesting to see what the market does over the next year or two, it used to be affordable to live here, wonder if it will return to that.

[citydweller]

It really will be interesting to see how things play out. While my heart goes out to those who end up in foreclosure it may be good for those looking to buy in our area.

[janeannwho]

Originally Posted by chesapeakesim

Those articles are pretty interesting. The funny thing is that I have heard so many realtors in HR say that real estate is local and the weakness in housing you hear about on the news is only in California/Florida/etc. and that this area isn't impacted. However, with over 1/3 of homeowners underwater I can't see how it could not impact HR. Especially since many are forced to move cause of the military so they won't be able to ride it out. It will be interesting to see what the market does over the next year or two, it used to be affordable to live here, wonder if it will return to that.

Don't you think VA loans and BHA keep the prices up in this area?