What to Really Expect When Buying A Bank Owned Property

In recent years, most new buyers wanted to buy a new home from a homebuilder. Today, nearly every buyer I pre-qualify today says the same thing. "I want to buy a bank-owned property."

In some counties around the country, foreclosures are at all-time highs. As a result, in today's market, the best deal for homebuyers is quite often the bank-owned property.

While many real estate professionals claim their business is off by as much as 60%, agents who concentrate on bank-owned properties are experiencing the second coming of the gold rush.

In the Las Vegas, the bank-owned real estate market is somewhat of an unknown. For many years, someone who was on the verge of foreclosure simply listed their home for sale and found a willing buyer to step in and save the day. As a result, many experienced real estate professionals and homebuyers are not as familiar with the process of buying a bank-owned property. Hopefully, this newsletter will help.

A bank-owned property or REO for "Real Estate Owned" is any property where the lender or bank has taken back ownership through a foreclosure, short sale, or other related act.

In the Las Vegas market today our inventory has swelled with this product. Many pundits believe this is the very tip of the iceberg and many, many more are coming.

It's important to understand there is a difference between a foreclosure and an REO. The REO is what happens after the act of foreclosure and after an unsuccessful foreclosure auction.

This newsletter will help you understand the process of buying a property that is owned by the bank. This is not about buying a home in foreclosure or in pre-foreclosure.

There are far more benefits, far less stress, and it's much easier to buy an REO property than a pre-foreclosure. Let's walk through it.

So Joe Smith bought a house in 2005 for $350,000. He did 100% financing, interest only, and he recently lost his job. Joe couldn't make his mortgage payments so he called a real estate agent to sell the house. The agent regretfully advises him his house is worth $340,000 today and by the time he pays commissions, closing costs and late payments to the mortgage company, he will have to write a check to close his house for $30,000.

Joe can't afford to do that so when he fails to make his mortgage payments, he is eventually foreclosed on by his bank, and evicted from his home.

Now, the bank has a foreclosure sale or auction. They require a minimum bid of $378,000 for the property. This minimum bid includes the balance of the loan, accrued interest, the attorney's fees for the legal action to get to this point, and all of the other money associated with this foreclosure.

At the foreclosure auction, the bank requires that any bidder have their $378,000 money ready that day in the form of a cashier's check for the full amount of their bid. They also let the bidders know that they will get the house "as is," with no repair allowance, and with all other liens that are on it.

Since Mr. Smith didn't have much equity, neither does the bank, and when they add all of these fees to the auction price, the minimum bid becomes a price at or well above market value, like in this case $378,000. That means it rarely ends up getting bid on.

This means the property ends up back in the hands of the bank and now you have an REO.

The bank now owns the property, and it gets recorded on their books as a sellable asset. Banks are in the business of loaning money and maximizing their value through strong business practices like checking, savings, lending, and making money for their shareholders.

They are not usually in the business of owning real estate.

They want to turn this asset into cash, so they put the home on the market with the goal of selling it as quickly as possible.

To accomplish this they will usually reduce the price of all of the costs they had at the foreclosure auction like the legal fees and such. They will list it and market the property with an experience REO real estate agent who can advertise it and put it on lock box for easy access. They will get rid of all of the liens.

They will put the property in the very best position possible to move. So in this case, you would expect the house to go back on the market for somewhere around the market value of $340,000.

But don't read too much into this. Just because they want to sell it fast doesn't necessarily mean that they will dramatically reduce the price further below market value. In some cases they will, but in others they won't. It's a sell-able asset and they want to make as much as possible.

This is where you come in.

First, you will want to contact a lender to make sure you are qualified to buy a home, the home is qualified for the lender, and how much you are qualified to buy.

Next, and equally as important, you want to contact a real estate agent and let them know you are interested in purchasing an REO.

Not all REO properties are a bargain. Its important that you hire a real estate professional who can let you know if you are getting a deal or not. Ask your agent to do a "CMA" or "comparative market analysis" on the property and find out what its worth in today's market.

Do your research before making an offer. Buying a bank-owned property is often a great opportunity but is also has its challenges.

I spoke with Dan Humeston, with Century 21 Moneyworld, who is considered one of Las Vegas' top REO agents. No one in this market today is busier than Dan.

A recent report listed Dan as the number one producing real estate agent in Las Vegas so far in 2007 and by a far margin. I understand he is currently #3 nationwide for all Century 21 agents.

I asked Dan, who is a long-time expert in REO, what you can do to make sure your offers are accepted and also what you can expect when making an offer on a bank-owned property.