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What Are Bank Owned REO Properties

By Shirley Long


If you are in the market for a new home, chances are you are looking for the best deals available. You may have searched for a home through various publications or you may have searched online. If you want to know what are bank owned REO properties are, they are properties owned by the mortgage lender or bank often called real estate owned properties and often you can get a very good deal on these types of home.

To find reo properties you may contact a real estate agent who has this information or look on the multiple listing service or MLS websites. You may also check your local banks as many of them have a section on their websites dedicated to reo properties or you can find a real estate selling service online that lists properties in your local area.

You should not go into a home purchase blindly, but do have the property inspected thoroughly by a professional home inspector. They will assess the property inside and out and give you information regarding its general condition and any repairs that need to be made or let you know if there is structural damage that has occurred. Many REO properties are distressed and in need of many repairs so be aware of this when you are looking at these kinds of home.

Rarely are REO properties considered to be in move-in condition but when they are the bank or mortgage lender may sell them at a premium price. You may be able to negotiate the pricing with the bank by getting them to lower the interest rate or discount some of the closing costs. Sometimes if you have the property inspected and they find that some repairs do need to be made you can then use this as leverage to negotiate a reduced price.

Finding bank owned properties are easy as many of these properties were once foreclosures and did not sell during the foreclosure auctions that may have been held. The bank must now sell the property on their own and sometimes they will take care of any issues with the title to the home, or may do some repairs on the property in order to recoup their investment. More than likely, however, these properties will be sold as-is and often have no warranties if they are severely damaged or otherwise distressed.

If you have a reo property in mind to invest in the first thing you will want to do is research the title and find out if there are any liens or outstanding taxes against it. This can make owning the property difficult if the title is not clean. Do not rely on the bank to do a title search but go through a title company for this task.

If the bank offers the home at a discounted price, you should still seek to have the property inspected by a professional before you purchase it. This way you will know the total cost if any of having to repair or renovate the property and you can include this cost in any loans you may obtain from the bank.

If you qualify for a bank loan or other type of private loan, try to get the best interest rates available and if necessary work out the cost of any repairs that need to be made in your total loan package, that way you will not have to come up with out of pocket costs for any repairs that need to be made.




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