Need Recommendation re: Foreclosure real estate agent (Huntington: bank owned, short sales)

[tshafeez]

Good morning everyone,

I am in search of foreclosures in order to consider all of my options. I have two real estate agents right now and neither of them are showing me foreclosures. I asked one of my agents if they show foreclosures and received a simple Yes response.

Do I need a specialized agent to deal with foreclosure properties? Is there any type of licence I should look for in a real estate agent that shows they know how to deal with the banks well? Or perhaps does any of you have specific suggestions or success stories of purchasing a foreclosed, bank owned property?

Thank you

[GoHokiesGo]

Any agent should be able to show you a foreclosure property; REO and short sale properties are no different than regular when it comes to viewing the properties.

When submitting a contract, it can be a bit different in dealing with them. The banks aren't as willing to negotiate terms, aside from price. You'll basically be accepting the property as-is, which can be pretty rough on the inside to places needing nothing more than a quick cleaning.

My house was a foreclosure and we had a good working relationship with our realtor. We bought a little over a year ago, nearly everything was foreclosures at that time, and ours was in great shape needing just a quick scrub.

If you want I can pm you the contact info for my realtor; he was very good and we're using him again to purchase a property for a family member that's relocating here. There are also a few agents on the forum that I'm sure would be helpful for you also.

[Margery]

Originally Posted by tshafeez

Good morning everyone,

I am in search of foreclosures in order to consider all of my options. I have two real estate agents right now and neither of them are showing me foreclosures. I asked one of my agents if they show foreclosures and received a simple Yes response.

Do I need a specialized agent to deal with foreclosure properties? Is there any type of licence I should look for in a real estate agent that shows they know how to deal with the banks well? Or perhaps does any of you have specific suggestions or success stories of purchasing a foreclosed, bank owned property?

Thank you

In what geographical area are you searching? You should find an agent who is familiar with that area, there is no special license required to work with foreclosures. There may be none available in your area of interest. It requires no special skills to work with banks on a foreclosure, just a lot of patience.

By the way, why are you working with 2 different agents? Does either of them know about the other? Have you signed an exclusive agreement with both of them? If so, you had better review the terms of that agreement, it is a contract.

[tshafeez]

Originally Posted by Margery

In what geographical area are you searching? You should find an agent who is familiar with that area, there is no special license required to work with foreclosures. There may be none available in your area of interest. It requires no special skills to work with banks on a foreclosure, just a lot of patience.

By the way, why are you working with 2 different agents? Does either of them know about the other? Have you signed an exclusive agreement with both of them? If so, you had better review the terms of that agreement, it is a contract.

A lot of good questions.

1. I have been focusing around the Huntington metro area, although Eisenhower, King street have shown promise. I work at Gallery Place, and due to family situation cannot have a commute that goes over 60 minutes, and more realistically 45 minutes. The yellow/blue line save a ton of time. But my wife will be attending George Mason so we have also been checking at the end of the orange line as well (not finding much fitting my needs there, though).

2. I found one agent who works hard, and I have a very favorable impression. But english is her second language and I was concerned about her knowledge (this is my first time and I want to be as thorough as I can in vetting an agent even though I don't know how to do it well). I received a referral to another agent. Neither of them have been sending me listings of foreclosures, just regular and short sales that show up on the Matrix results.

I did not sign any agreement with either of them.

I figured whoever could help me first wins. Actually, I am not very satisfied with either one. I have found foreclosures in the above areas on my own and that is how I have began to settle down my search. I am not sure why they didn't show it to me. Maybe because I need an FHA loan? That's why I am here to try and figure out if I needed a specialized agent......

In short, I don't know.

[tshafeez]

Btw, I am a first time buyer, couple with one young kid.

[tshafeez]

Any suggestions on good banks to work with for getting a loan?

[oneasterisk]

Like the others mentioned, any agent should be able to show you a foreclosure there's nothing special about it.

I have a history with the agent I used and I explained that I was looking specifically for a foreclosure to use as an investment property. All the ones he showed me were foreclosures, and he also had no issue with looking at listings that I found myself. What I'd do is find a listing using redfin.com or franklymls.com, if it looked promising I'd drive over and see what the outside looked like and what I could see of the inside from the windows. I'd send him the list that looked promising and then we'd go check them out. This involved more legwork on my end, but I was able to use my time with him more effectively.

Check out metlifehomeloans.com. I used them for my last purchase and they were great to work with.

[Margery]

Originally Posted by tshafeez

Any suggestions on good banks to work with for getting a loan?

The Virginia Housing Development Authority (VHDA.com) has loan programs for first time buyers in Virginia that require little or no money down, and also FHA loans. They also have a list of lenders who are familiar with the types of loans they offer.

You should get pre-approved for a loan before you start looking at properties, that way you know the price range you should be looking at and won't waste your time or your real estate agent's time looking at properties you will not be able to buy.

Good luck to you, buying your first home is stressful and enjoyable at the same time.