Foreclosure listings for Howard County (Baltimore, Columbia: bank owned, for sale, foreclosures)

[sabrina8]

I am house hunting in Howard County MD and would really like some hints towards foreclosure properties!

I'm new to City-Data forum and am posting this new thread as I haven't yet found this information on this forum. This is an amazing site, with really generous members, with their time and effort; the likes I've never seen on any other forum. I am truly impressed and would really appreciate some advice to help me guide my own house search.

I'm looking for a four bedroom single family house (with some outside space) in Howard County. The house will be for my parents who are arriving from London in a few months. I was told that with the current property market in the US we would be able to get really good deals.

I'm firstly trying to narrow down the areas based on good schools, good community and close proximity to (plentiful) amenities...any ideas? I'm open to all advice! Secondly, when it comes to foreclosures I really don't know how to get started!

How shall I processed in order to keep up to scratch with the foreclosure market along with deciding on the best suited areas. As I'm new to the county, state and country, any and every advice is highly appreciated!

Thank you in advance!
Sabrina.

[AlicynD]

Any particular reason you are looking only at foreclosures?

[hstello]

I as well am interested in foreclosures. I have several months before I want to buy a house and am really interested in what's on the market. I have a large family and can really only afford a house in the $450K range. Foreclosures just might be the way to go. Are there any FREE listings of foreclosures?

[NJ2MDdude]

Check for foreclosures in the River Hill HS, Centennial HS and Mount Hebron HS districts.

[tonyc]

Here's one that's listed for much less on some other websites...

10140 Frost Way, Ellicott City, MD 21042 - Zillow

http://www.trulia.com/property/10712...-City-MD-21042

[Marilyn Emery]

When you say foreclosure properties I assume you mean bank or corporate owned. These would be properties the bank has already taken back from the owner and it is now vacant and for sale. The easiest way to find these is to get a Realtor and have them search for foreclosed or bank owned. If your time frame is relatively short (less than 9 months) you might want to stay away from most Short sales. These are properties where the owner can't make their payments, own more than the house is worth and are hoping the bank will take less than the balance on the mortgage. These can take a long time to negotiate with the bank.

[trying2moveup]

And these properties are often in very bad shape. We looked at plenty of foreclosures and out of about 10, there was ONE that was in decent enough shape that we wouldn't have had to sink in about 50K to get it cleaned up and updated to the current century. And the banks don't care - they still want to get as much as they can.

[aneftp]

Originally Posted by sabrina8

I am house hunting in Howard County MD and would really like some hints towards foreclosure properties!

I'm firstly trying to narrow down the areas based on good schools, good community and close proximity to (plentiful) amenities...any ideas? I'm open to all advice! Secondly, when it comes to foreclosures I really don't know how to get started!

Thank you in advance!
Sabrina.

Howard County, Maryland is one of the most affluent counties in the United States. You are not going to find many foreclosed properties for what you are looking for "good schools/good community and around 450K for a large family with a big yard".

If you find a foreclosed property, chances are they are not going to be in the best shape or in a less desirable part of Howard County. I saw a foreclosure listing for a home for 990K in Fulton MD on 1.3 acres (about 5 miles south of Columbia Maryland). I did my research and saw that the owner had paid 1.3 million in 2005 and was going through a divorce. Than I went to the home and it was trashed. So a "great deal" on a foreclosed home in a very good neighborhood with A plus schools turned out not to be good.

There's a big misconception about foreclosures in the DC/Baltimore area in general. The countries with the highest foreclosure center around PG/Charles on the Maryland side and some parts of Loundon County and Prince William county on the Virginia side.

Good luck finding a "bargain". You are going to be competing with lots of investors and potential home buyers if a great foreclosure listing pops up in a great area of Howard County. Remember the area only has an unemployement rate of about 4.4% compared to 7.5% nationwide and the government has moved a ton of jobs to the area.