Aug. 13th 2007
Jacksonville FHA and VA Foreclosed Homes
Another good source of foreclosed homes in Jacksonville can be FHA and VA. Look here for Jacksonville FHA Homes for sale and here for Jacksonville VA Homes These homes have gone through and completed foreclosure. They are usually sold “AS IS” and repairs will not be done. Both the FHA and VA will have additional paper work to complete. They will also often add Deed restrictions prohibiting the sale of the home for a period of time.
Aug. 12th 2007
Jacksonville REO Homes For Sale
Real Estate Owned (REO) is a term used to describe a property that has gone all the way through the foreclosure process and is now owned by the mortgage holder. The homes can usually be shown by a buyers agent and the title and liens issues should be cleared at this point. You can find Jacksonville REO Homes in the MLS on this page I set up. REO homes can also be found on this Jacksonville Home Foreclosure page too. The short sale and foreclosed homes are mixed together because of the way the listing agents entered the homes into the MLS database.
Jacksonville REO Houses Can Be Great Deals
REO houses can be fantastic buys for both the investor and the personal homebuyer. Banks do not want to hold onto these homes, they have already spent thousands foreclosing on the house and are ready to cut their losses. The REO homes are likely to be roughest looking house for sale in the area, dead lawn, some trash in the house from a fast move out, and possibly in need of a paint job. If you are willing to look past these defects and want to buy a house potentially below market value, then take a look through the REO homes for sale in Jacksonville. If you see something that interests you, send me an email.
Aug. 11th 2007
You can not pick up a newspaper or turn on the news lately without hearing about the sub prime mortgage meltdown and the impending surge of home foreclosures. Locally, the number of Jacksonville foreclosure homes is going up. If you think you might be interested in buying foreclosure homes, here are some tips to help you find the homes.
Pre-Foreclosure | Short Sale Homes in Jacksonville
Right now many homeowners are under stress from their adjustable rate mortgages coming off of the teaser rate. For example, if a homeowner took out a $300,000 2/28 loan two years ago, their monthly mortgage payment might have been as low as $1,264 for principle and interest. Today, this loan might be readjusting to $1,995 for principle and interest, an increase of 58%
The homeowner unable to make this larger payment starts to fall behind with payments and the foreclosure process starts. This is an opportunity for investors to buy the house in preforclosure. If you have ever wondered about those signs around town advertising “We Buy Houses Fast!” it’s to find people who need to sell because they face foreclosure. During this time, it may be possible for the investor to buy a home in a short sale. A short sale is when the bank (the mortgage holder) agrees to sell the property to an investor for less than what the bank is owed for the mortgage.
Why would the bank take less than is owed to them for the house? If the bank is convinced that homeowner will no longer make payments on the house and is walking away, the bank knows it will spend thousands of dollars during the next year to complete the foreclosure. In the end, the bank will own the house and be forced to sell the foreclosed house, spending even more money. The challenge is to have the bank convinced they are better off selling now to an investor then going through with foreclosure.
Finding Short Sales In Jacksonville
I set up a search on kristafracke.com to help clients find homes going into foreclosure. This home foreclosure page shows both homes in pre-foreclosure and foreclosed homes.
If you need to see any of the homes let me know.
More Information
If you would like more information on short sales, I would look at this real estate investing website They have an excellent podcast on being a real estate investor.
