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We are cash buyers looking to get a deal on a home. We've tried doing it ourselves but having no luck so thinking of trying a realtor.
What quallities, credentials do I look for to make sure we get one that really knows their stuff, especially about short sales and foreclosures?
Also, is there a way to buy pre-foreclosures, like the ones I see on Realtytrac?
You will be hiring someone to do a job for you. The best way to find someone good is to interview at least agents to see who does what. Short sales will be listed on the MLS so agents will have access to them. Ask about their REO experience.
You can also go to Short Sale Superstars which is a group of agents that do short sales. I agree with Brandon that you should interview at least 3 agents and pick the one that best meets your needs.
We are cash buyers looking to get a deal on a home. We've tried doing it ourselves but having no luck so thinking of trying a realtor.
What quallities, credentials do I look for to make sure we get one that really knows their stuff, especially about short sales and foreclosures?
Also, is there a way to buy pre-foreclosures, like the ones I see on Realtytrac?
Depending on which market you are buying in, the foreclosure market is not as easy as one would think.
First, to purchase a pre-foreclosure you would have to purchase a property at an auction. All foreclosures listed with a broker have gone through the process and did NOT sell at auction.
Cash is great - now you need to know what the market is selling at. Get a realtor to work with you, determine what you want to buy, and what homes are selling for. In SoFla, foreclosures have affected pricing, and usually, most REOs are priced properly. That is, the discounts have been figured out and reflected in the listed price. Some seem to think they can take a listed price and discount that by a percentage - that is not the usual circumstance.
Here's one for you - there are REOs in FTL that are getting 15 offers min. and selling at $30,000 above asking price!!!!!
Know the market, get to know with a realtor, set your budget and see if anything is available. Do this soon, the market is significantly different this year than last. Much stronger - but that statement is very specific to my local market - each market is different.
I can only add to the other comments ---
The key is to get a Realtor that knows the foreclosure / investor market. Frankly, that's exactly what I do. Better yet, I've been the investor, landlord, etc. I love to work as a buyer's agent for an investor ... and I'm good at it!!
Find a Realtor in your market who has done some investment properties and finds that's their "thing"!
Good luck & make some money!!
Preforeclosures tend to mean short sales, now days. Regardless of agency, one is at the mercy of things well beyond what the buyer or the buyer's agent can control.
You do not know, with certainty, that the seller will qualify for a short sale no matter what the listing agent says about " pre-approved".
You do not know with certainty, that the seller will not at some point move on to bankruptcy to stay in the house longer.
You often do not know who is calling the shots as the lender might be the servicing agent, not the holder of the mortgage.
Second mortgages and PMI insurers create more complications.
So you are not only doing your own due dilly on the house. You must do so on the seller and lenders, too.
In most areas, the number of successfully closed short sales remains a small percentage of properties listed as short sales.
In most areas, the number of successfully closed short sales remains a small percentage of properties listed as short sales.
Yep, out here 32.3% of short sales listed got closed in 2009.
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