Q: Looking for at least a 2 bed, gas, central air, home or townhome in the $140,000 range. Was thinking about pre-foreclosures and foreclosures. Can we view these homes? What is a good resource to find these homes? Are sites like realtytrac and foreclosure.com worth paying for their services?
Rich, Home Buyer
Brick, NJ
A: Rich,
As a Monmouth County Realtor, I can certainly help you with homes in my market area. That said, most homes are selling for a good deal more (median single family sold price in June was $358,704; median condo sold price was $265,302). While there are some short sales and foreclosures in the market, many of those are trading for higher.
If you'd like a list of what's currently available in your price range let me know and I'll email it to you.
In terms of the sites you mentioned, it's important to understand that many of these types of sites are pulling information that may indicate that a homeowner is behind in payments but not necessarily indicating that the property is available for sale. If they're not for sale then you are unlikely to be able to view the home.
Keep in mind that if they foreclose on the property, most banks will list it with a realtor to ensure that it gets the maximum exposure which translates into a faster sale for the bank. Likewise, homeowners who are pursuing a short sale (wherein they're asking a bank to accept less than full repayment of the outstanding mortgage debt) must have their property listed for the same reason as listed above. So in either case, the vast majority of these homes will be listed in MLS.
While you may be able to identify properties owned by homeowners in some type of financial distress, there's no guarantee that they're interested in selling at this time or that they won't be able to work the problem out without a sale (e.g. loan modification, etc.) While you may be able to find a willing seller, chances are they'll be less likely to negotiate (for-sale-by-owners are notorious for having an inflated view of the value of their homes). In the interest of achieving your goal more quickly (and for you to have representation during the transaction), working with an experienced agent would be a wise choice. And the cost of the service is likely to be paid by the seller.
Hope that helps.
