Foreclosures Help Information

Bank Owned Foreclosed Houses

Question: Is it true I shouldn't bother negotiating with a bank for a foreclosed home?

An answer here said I was wasting my time putting in a bid for 55k on a bank-owned house with an asking price of 70k. I realize this is low comparatively, but was hoping for at least a counter-offer. I do know there are currently no other offers on the home, and it has been on the market since sept. 2008. Do you think it is a waste of my time? What if comparable recent sales in the area were closer to my offer? How inflexible are banks in your experience?

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Answer: This depends on several things. #1 How long the house has been on the market (in your case, 7 months or so definitely works to your favor). #2 How hard that area has been hit by foreclosures (areas with a lot of foreclosures bring down property values and create a more competitive market). #3 How much potential is there for the home to become damaged, vandalized, or lose value in any way because of the vacancy.

Let me give you an example.. certain places in CA which have a lot of foreclosures are causing banks big headaches. They are much more likely to accept a low-ball offer if they know there's a likely chance they could end up holding the title for an extended time. On the other hand, somewhere in the country which has not been hit hard by the housing crisis - the bank is going to look for full market value of the home.

Banks don't want to own properties. The longer they own them, the more property tax they have to pay, the more pressure they will get to upkeep the property (lawn care etc), and the higher the chance someone will break in and vandalize the property costing them more money.

Since this home has been on the market for so long, offer them 55K. The WORST they will do is say no, or counter-offer you. Have your realtor write up a date they need to respond to you in (usually 3 business days).

Whoever said banks are rigid on foreclosure property listing prices must not have much experience buying REOs.

FORECLOSURE BUS TOUR BANK OWNED

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