Where have all the great real estate deals gone? If you've listened to the news you would think the sky has fallen and everything is a blue light special. There are still deals to be had but you'll have to look a little harder and act quickly.
Depending upon where you are you'll likely find a fair number of "short sales" (pre-foreclosures), bank owned properties and you may even find some regular sales which are great deals.
The advantage of a regular sale is that the buyer and seller can typically come to terms quickly and they can close quickly (30-45 days). There are a lot of properties that are either investor owned or the owner has lived in the property for a number of years and built up equity. In these instances the owner is willing to price the property competitively in order to get them sold quickly.
There has been a lot of talk about bank owned or REO properties recently. These properties are sold off in a several different ways. One of the first ways that the bank attempts to sell the property is through an auction at the courthouse. A novice should not attempt to purchase a property in this manner. If the property doesn't sell at this point then the bank will typically list the property with an REO agent (a real estate agent who specializes in bank owned properties). These properties typically enter the market 10-12% below market value in order to get them sold quickly. Like any other sale, you'll have the opportunity to preview the home and after you go under contract you'll be able to have the home inspected. The down side of bank owned properties is that periodically the lender will have a bidding period during which they will accept multiple offers to see which they would like to accept. Not all bank owned properties are sold in this manner but this is good information to know going into the process.
Of course, there are still lots of "short sales" on the market. These can be great deals if you're willing to wait or you could end up spending a lot of time waiting for nothing. How good of a deal it is depends upon who the lender is and how many lenders are involved. As for the wait, you can expect anywhere from 2 to 6 months for an answer.
You are not the only one that has been listening to all the news about the great deals on the market today. If there is a great deal that hits the market they are being scooped up quickly. Some of the bank owned properties will have several offers on them within the first week. With the affordability of homes and the $8,000 tax credit that is being offered there's starting to be a little feeding frenzy on these below market priced homes.
So what is a home buyer to do? Your best option is to find a good full time REALTOR that will keep up to date with any new properties coming on the market and notify you immediately. Otherwise, you may miss the boat.
1 comment:
Many may not perceived it but it is actually the best time to purchase a new home because of the advantages it offers such as lower price, lower interest rates, tax savings, more choices etc. So instead of wasting money in renting a place, buying something that can be an equity is far more better option.
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