Rhiannon Wilkinson

How Do I Find A "Quality" Foreclosure Home For 50% Of Appraised Value?



Posted: Monday, February 01, 2010

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Finding "quality" foreclosure homes is like trying to find a virgin in a whore house!

When people go through foreclosure, they get PISSED and kick all sorts of holes in the wall, spray paint, grafitti... YOU NAME IT! As a full time real estate investor and former Realtor, I've seen it all!

One time, this man closed EVERY single window in his home, turned on every water faucet, and locked the house up nice and tight. When the investor bought the house (without looking at it) from the county auction, he opened the door and felt a TIDAL WAVE! Let me tell ya!

Then another time, I met this woman who was going into foreclosure and had already moved to a brand new apartment. But since her lease wouldn't allow pets, she let all five of her dogs crap and piss all over the carpet in her former home that was being foreclosed on.

A lot of these people take their anger out from losing the home on the bank, or they become so emotionally detached from the property that they do things like leave their pets in there for months on end, like a kennel.

The whole point of buying a foreclosure IS to buy it cheap, and they are cheap for a reason! You buy them cheap so you can fix them up. THEN, you get the benefit of having all that sweat equity!

If you want a deal that is super cheap and in great shape, the only way you are going to find that is by searching for owners who are behind on their mortgage payments (before they take out all their anger and frustration on the house) and offer to do a short sale with the bank for less than what is owed on the mortgage (the bank knows what's coming, so they would rather settle!)

But the thing is, those types of deals aren't advertised for obvious reasons. They are snatched up so quick that there is no need to advertise. You can just whisper about it over your shoulder, and they are gone.

Not to say that finding an owner to do a short sale with you is HARD TO FIND. But you aren't going to be lucky enough to find some chump who is going to sell you a house for 50% off that doesn't need a lick of work done to it! You have to find these sellers yourself, then reap the rewards. Or, you can buy a foreclosure and fix it the way you want it to be.

So either hustle and find the deal yourself by checking your local newspaper for people that are behind a few months on their payments and negotiate with the bank (it is public record) or bite the bullet and purchase a fixer upper that you have to put some sweat equity into.

Good luck!

Rhiannon Rose Wilkinson is President and Co-Founder of Equity Estates L.L.C. Find out why Oklahoma City is every real estate investors darling, offering the three sacred triads that every real estate investor looks for: Cash Flow, Equity and Future Appreciation! Visit my blog at: http://equityestates.blogspot.com/

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