Bank owned homes, Short Sales, RI market update

It's been some time since I last posted on this blog. The reason is I have been very busy with REO properties! There has been a change, here in RI with these properties. One big change is how fast they are selling! We no longer have the opportunity to browse around and set appts for a week after these show up on the market. Now there are investors and with the new tax credit, numerous first time buyers, all out there looking for a deal.
And there are many deals to be had, if you or someone you know has a qualified contractor to update, many of these homes, need minimal updating. However, if you are a first time buyer and you are using an FHA loan, you definately need to look at homes that are less than what you originally wanted to borrow, because now, you will need an additional sum to get these homes up to par. Even short sales are showing evidence of deterioration. I have found that when people are losing their homes, the original pride of ownership no longer exists. These homes are then either vacated or just not kept up. A short sale also takes forever to get an answer (in my experience). In the time that you are waiting for your offer to be accepted, the price of the home has since gone down. So you need to be very astute when putting in your offer.
Hopefully REO's will not dominate the Rhode Island market for too much longer, but that also means that the lower pricing will also be gone.
As I state in the first paragraph, right now many of these homes are going into highest and best offers and many are sold before print! You definitely need to work with someone who will monitor the market for you. But, if you are patient and have the help and commitment of a good Realtor, you can prevail in these tough economic times! Good luck in your house hunting!

Bank Foreclosures in Rhode Island the real story

I am going to start this blog with the events that lead up to foreclosures. Let's start at the very beginning. You have found that great new home and have qualified for a mortgage. You cannot wait to get into the house and start figuring out how you can furnish it. You decided on an Arm mortgage or something similar because you wanted to free up your cash to do other things. You figured you would refinance later and get a fixed mortgage. Meanwhile, you happily went out and bought all those new things you needed for your new home. Maybe you became ill or lost your job or the price of gas went up so high you could barely afford your supposedly low payments. Fill in your reason. Whatever the situation, you have found that in order to eat, you could not afford to pay that mortgage. Meanwhile, you begin noticing that the homes around you are either not selling, or if they are, they are selling for so much less than you thought they would. You are getting a little scared. You are afraid to call your mortgage company because you have heard so many horror stories that you figure you will just stay under the radar and next month will be better. Well, next month arrives and now you owe two months and you still do not have a viable way of paying it. You keep putting off the inevitable until you eventually start getting notices and phone calls from the bank. Then you notice your great home is up for Auction in the newspaper! This is how homes are foreclosed. Of course, this is only one scenario, there are many different ways this can come about. After the auction, you don't know where to go, your credit is shot, you no longer own the home and you see that the Bank has bought your home. After a couple of months a Realtor will arrive and tell you he/she is representing the bank that bought your home and it's time for you to move. You may or may not be offered a months rent to get everything out and clean the home before you leave. Meanwhile, just in case you decide not to accept that offer, there is a lawyer starting eviction proceedings. Once these proceedings get going, there's simply nothing else you can do. If you do not move on, someone will arrive at your home, give you an hour or so to get everything out and change the locks. You are now out on the street! My next post will discuss "how did this happen to me?"

In the interest of REO properties in Rhode Island

It's a little late and I am just starting up this blog. Some of my thoughts are for posting REO listings, advertising companies who are involved with them. Discussing the Real Estate market in Rhode Island, etc. Tune in...