Buying Foreclosed homes in Arizona
Buying Foreclosure Homes
There is a lot of talk today about the number of foreclosures flooding the real estate market. Many buyers looking for deals lean toward foreclosures believing they can buy 20…30…maybe even 40% below market. While there are amazing deals that can be found, such discounts are not the norm. In fact, according to John T. Reed, editor of Real Estate Investor’s Monthly, “…most foreclosures sell for 5% below market.” That figure of 5%, combined with the risks that are inherent in buying a foreclosure, make it a challenge for a buyer to walk away with a truly good investment. Some of those risks include deferred maintenance, drawn-out escrow periods, and difficulty discovering the true condition of the property.
Since the challenge of finding the right foreclosure can be daunting, there is good reason to have a skilled professional by your side. Here are some of the ways an experienced realtor can help you in purchasing a foreclosure:
1.) In order to know if a foreclosure is a good investment you must know what the comparable sales are in a particular neighborhood or section of the city. Realtors have access to real estate sales history in a market area and can help you interpret that information as accurately as possible. This will help you to determine whether what looks like a steal really is or not.
2.) A realtor can assist you in “knowing your rights”, so to speak, when it comes to inspections and the general process of doing discovery on the condition of the property. For example, the seller of a foreclosure (the bank) has a contractual responsibility to make it possible for the buyer to do a complete inspection of the property. This responsibility that the seller has includes having all utilities turned on for inspections to take place. Often banks will try to pass that responsibility on to the buyer. A good realtor will go to bat for his client on this and other issues related to full discovery of the property.
3.) Banks often utilize a specific title company for their sales transactions, and those title companies (also called escrow companies) are typically inundated because of the number of transactions they are overseeing. An efficient realtor, working for your interest, can work to keep your transaction on schedule toward a specific closing date.
These are just a few of the ways that a realtor can guide you in the process of buying a foreclosed home.
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