If you know anything about foreclosures and bank owned properties, you know they are plentiful out there. The market is awash in bad debt and bank owned properties. I’ve been buying bank owned properties (or REO’s) for over a year, and in that time it seems the tide of available properties has risen, fallen, risen again – and now it seems the banks are holding back a bit.
But even those sitting on the sidelines know the the banks are holding back a veritable crap pile (that’s a technical term) of houses. The word on the street for the past few months is that the banks are about to unleash the motherload. Ask anyone in the business of moving bank junk, and they’ll tell you – “The Tsunami is coming.” Check out what the info-heads at CNBC have to say (see below).
If you want my two cents – I quite frankly don’t see it. But maybe I’m wrong.
What do you think? Will there be a flood or a trickle?
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Look, it can’t always be all real estate all the time. Sometimes even I take a break from talking deals. On this day, I met up with my boy Ant’nee (TJ) Topper to enjoy a crap-pile of Sushi at one of Maryland’s finest Sushi establishments; Sushi Sono. This place is the REAL DEAL -- and when the big boys come calling, the chefs bring out the specials! This ain’t your Dad’s California Roll, folks -- this is HARD CORE.
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I’m sitting here in Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. It’s Saturday at 4:49AM and I’m wondering once again – “What in the hell am I doing here? Why in the fletch am I here when my family is 2000 miles away?”
It’s been a completely awesome week with my boy Bob Norton. We’ve got three houses under contract, we’ve got a contractor to do the work and when complete, we should net…are ya ready…about $90,000.00 upon selling the three. But it ain’t easy folks. I’m mean sure – its easy to find and do the deals, but its soooooooooo hard to be away from my wife and kids for a week.
We do what we have to do, right? When the market gives you such incredible opportunity, you milk it for all its worth!!! I hate to feel as if I’m chasing the dollars, but I gotta tell ya, the easy money to be had in this market makes me giddy with excitement.
Wanna learn how to rob the banks blind flipping REO’s? – let me know.
Bob and I are crushing it in Arizona with bank owned houses and I’ve bought several REO’s here in Baltimore over the past few months. I’m looking to partner with a few (maybe 4) investors (newbie to experienced) who want to learn how to find deals. I will teach you precisely how to find the deals. You bring ‘em to me, we’ll evaluate them together – then I’ll bring the money and the ACE contractors. We’ll split the profits 50/50. How simple is that?
Folks – there will never be a better time to do great deals. You just have to learn the simple techniques of finding and mastering the market, learning the values – and making offers. Then trust me, the deals will rain down on you like sweet candy from the sky!
Interested? Comment below!
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About two weeks ago, a bank accepted our offer on my newest rehab project, “to be.” My new baby. The house is in Columbia, MD. Strangely enough, this property sat on the market for a staggering 588 days. Maybe it was pure hubris on the part of the bank, or perhaps it was the very picky REO agent. Whatever the case this REO, is mine now – but I must tell you buying an REO is no walk in the park.
CONTEST ALERT! The first person to tell me the significance of the above picture will get a free lunch with me. (You must be local to Baltimore)
For you beginners; a house becomes a bank owned property following the foreclosure auction if there are no bidders to outbid the bank. Once the bank reclaims the property, it is considered, Real Estate Owned (REO). This, by the way, is a very boiled-down definition. If you are planning on getting in the game with REO’s, just know that you purchase them As-Is, with no contingencies. Banks want to deal with serious buyers not tire kickers. Write “clean” contracts with high earnest money deposits to separate yourself from the herd.
There are ton of REO properties on the market right now. Its a numbers game, but if you make enough good offers, a few will be accepted or countered. Patience and persistence is key, but like a cobra in waiting, you also have to know when to strike.
Back to my rehab: The house (see below); a 3 BR / 2BA house is in a nice, circa-60′s neighborhood of Columbia. Its a weird, chalet-style, single-story Columbia house and it needs heavy cosmetic rehab. I’ll have more pictures and all the details of the rehab in the coming weeks – stay tuned!
So why did the bank initially list the house at $299,000 when its current market value is only $336,000? My guess: The REO agent led the bank to believe that he could market the house in its current condition to a retail home-buyer. Uh….right! There was no way in hell that Joe and Jane Homebuyer would have EVER purchased this property in its current state. The agent was wrong! So the house sat.
The bank then played the reduction game. From $299,000, they dropped to $279,000. Nada. From $279,000, they dropped to $249,000. Queue the crickets! Nothing. Oh, and did I forget to mention that at some point the roof sprung a leak? So now the bank is dealing an undesirable house with mold.
TIP: Banks really hate mold. Mold grows in hot, dark houses that have moisture. Often, the first step for the bank when they reclaim a home is to turn off the utilities, which would include (you guessed it) the sump-pump. Then the spring rains come, as they did this year – and viola, you’ve got a lot of flooded basements. Mmmmm….can ya just smell the money? The best time to find moldy houses is right now!
The the PRICE DROPPED TO $229,000. And like a vulture coming into to strip the carcass, I faxed in my killer offer just minutes after the price change….
More juicy details to follow!
*** For now, here’s a great story from InmanNews for folks wishing to buy REO’s
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