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Looking for REO property or a foreclosure in Fountain Hills?
What is an REO?"REO" is short for Real Estate Owned--a Bank-Owned Property. These are homes which have been foreclosed upon and are now held by the bank or mortgage company. This is different than real estate up for foreclosure auction. 
To Buy At Auction--Or Not To Buy at Auction? When buying a property during a foreclosure sale, you must pay at least the loan balance plus any interest and other fees added during the foreclosure process. The buyer must also be willing to pay with cash in hand. And on top of all that, you'll receive the property completely as is. That possibly will involve current liens and even current tenants or occupants that need to be evicted.
Buying Homes from Banks: A bank-owned property, on the other hand, is a much neater and attractive option. The REO property was unable to find a buyer during foreclosure auction. Now the lender owns it. The lender will deal with the elimination of tax liens, evict occupants if needed and generally prepare for the issuance of a title insurance policy to the buyer at closing.
Note that REOs may be exempt from normal disclosure requirements. For example, in California, banks are not required to give a Transfer Disclosure Statement, a document that usually requires sellers to reveal any defects they are informed of. By hiring Sonoran Lifestyle Real Estate, you can rest assured knowing all parties are fulfilling Arizona state disclosure requirements.
Is REO property in Fountain Hills a bargain?It's sometimes thought that any REO must be a steal and an opportunity for guaranteed profit. This isn't always true. You have to be cautious about buying a REO if your intent is to make money off of it. Even though the bank is usually eager to offload it promptly, they are also looking to get as much as they can for it.
 When pondering what to pay for REO property, carefully analyze comparable sales in the neighborhood and be sure to take into account the time and cost of any repairs or remodeling needed to prepare the house for resale. There are bargains with potential to make money, and many people do very well flipping foreclosures. But there are also many REOs that are not good buys and may not be money makers.
Prepared to make an offer?Most mortgage companies have staff dedicated to REO that you'll work with in buying REO property from them. Normally the REO department will use a listing agent to get their REO properties listed on the local MLS.
Prior to making your offer, you'll want to contact either the listing agent or REO department at the bank and find out as much as you can about their knowledge about the condition of the property and what their process is for getting offers. Since banks typically sell REO properties "as is", you may want to include an inspection contingency in your offer that gives you time to check for hidden damage and retract the offer if you find it. If, as a buyer, you can provide documentation proving your ability to pay, such as a pre-approval letter from a lender, your offer will be more attractive and likely be accepted. (This goes for any real estate offer.)
Once you've made your offer, you can expect the bank to make a counter offer. At this point it will be your choice whether to accept their counter, or make another counter offer. Your transaction could be final in one day, but that's usually not the case. Since offers and counter offers usually allow a day or more for the other party to respond (and employees at a bank don't work nights or weekends) you could be looking at a week or longer.
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16824 E. Avenue of the Fountains, #12
Fountains Hills, AZ 85268
Office: (480) 816-5557
Fax: (480) 816-9636
Info@SonoranLifestyle.com |
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