REO properties

[Rifkinn]

Stands for Real Estate Owned.  Basically foreclosed on and now owned and for sale by a mortgage company or bank.

I want to let ppl know that if they are curious about buying one of these properties, don't expect it to go quickly.  You can get a decent price (always a possibility ), but you do need to have more time on your hands than you might expect.

Take me for example.  I am buying the only house in my price range in the area and it is an REO being sold by Countrywide.  Once we came to a mutually agreeable price, I signed the purchase offer on August 7 and the closing date was to be Sept 7.  After sending it in, they took forever to get back and say they needed me to apply for a loan through them in case my own financing fell through they said.  I just got their signed paperwork back today  *Happy dance*(in private, don't want to scare the neighbors,lol).  Yes, that is a week after the closing date in the original papers.  My agent (a very nice and patient lady) sent in an addendum with an updated closing date of Oct 31 so I have plenty of time to get a proper house inspection, appraisal and title search done (REO's are sold as-is, mine anyway).

Well, I just wanted to share if there was someone out there that was on a tighter budget but was patient in their searches.
btw, this link has pics of the house I am in the process of getting.  2br/1ba 1312sqft 81x137lot all for 27500, woohoo! and remodeled fairly recently.
http://www.rifkinn.com/houseimages.php
sorry, I'm getting a bit excited with the process finally moving forward again 
I just am a bit sad to know that I won't be a homeowner when I can finally move to NH.

Here are a few links to some companies reo pages if anyone was curious
http://mortgage02.chase.com/alt/altdel/REOSearch.jsp
http://www.countrywide.com/purchase/f_reo.asp
http://www.premierereo.com/reo/consumerSvlt//nav/ConsumerNavL1.jsp/requestPage/consumer/PropertySearch.jsp

[dalebert]

Where is it?

I'm patient. I'm looking at real estate as an investment.

[Rifkinn]

REO's are all across the country.  Mine is in SW Indiana (don't touch it, lol, I gotta get a home :^)

Here is a blog that keeps track of how many Countrywide alone has. 
They have a chart and list showing recent totals and the charts shows how many they have had over the last year.  They have gone from just over 5,000 nationwide at the end of January to over 12,000 this week.

http://countrywide-foreclosures.blogspot.com/

I don't know anything about investing though.

[error]

I'm patient. I'm looking at real estate as an investment.

Too bad you can't short real estate. This is definitely not the time to buy.

[Dreepa]

I'm patient. I'm looking at real estate as an investment.

Too bad you can't short real estate. This is definitely not the time to buy.

If you can buy it under market it is.
Also if you rent out the place and the rent covers the mortgage, taxes and interest and upkeep then it is ok.

[Dreepa]

I am looking at 2-3 places in NH.. where the rents would cover all the PITI.

[Rifkinn]

SW IN is not part of NH the last time I looked at the map. 

I know that.  I was just wanting to share a bit of info because I never heard about REO's until I came across the house I am buying and just wanted to share the info.  Who knows, someone else might get lucky and find a good one somewhere for them. 

I'm jumping on mine because the appraised values in the neighborhood were over $51000 back in 2002 and this house hasn't been reappraissed since that time (before the last owner did most of the remodeling for me).  If I turn around in a year or so and sell it, I am planning to use the extra to pay for my way to NH. 

In the meantime, I am expecting the mortage+taxes+insurance to be at least 140 lower than my current rent.  The gas and electric bills in the better insulated house I am exptecting to be about 60 less a month and that will cover the water/sewer/garbage bill that I don't pay now.  The extra 140+ that I won't have to pay will go into savings to either use for maintenance and/or cover more moving costs.  I'm not really good at long range planning, but I got one so far.  Now I just gotta work on convincing my girlfriend 

[dalebert]

If I turn around in a year or so and sell it, I am planning to use the extra to pay for my way to NH. 

The housing market's in trouble and a year from now may be the lowest point and one of the most difficult times to sell at all, much less at a profit. I hope you're willing to wait a few years at least, and that's assuming we don't have a major SHTF before then.

[Rifkinn]

The housing market's in trouble and a year from now may be the lowest point and one of the most difficult times to sell at all, much less at a profit. I hope you're willing to wait a few years at least, and that's assuming we don't have a major SHTF before then.

Well, I am lucky in that.  I live in an area that didn't have the boom in prices like a few states and the bust hitting those same states shouldn't be much of a problem around here.  Actually, it might improve my chances of getting a qualified buyer that has a quality loan (hoping). 
That is probably why Ian has had the problem with selling his house in Fla.  It is one of the states hit hard with a lot of foreclosures.
I do understand that it might take longer to sell, that is why I am going to keep my schedule very flexible.  In the meantime, I will have a decent place to live at a reasonable price and won't feel rushed to take an offer I don't like.