A point of clarification. I did not mean that the bank was assigning the new REO before they owned it. Merely a reference to some of them assigning them almost as quickly as the gavel falls, while others take months to assign. In the case of the San Marcos example I gave, there was no tenant. It was vacant during the summer when it was winterized and was just now assigned. Some banks aren't staffed to handle the volume so some homes languish vacant for many months. Yes, others have tenants that need to be negotiated with. Each one has a different story to tell.

I am guessing that Trulia is doing a combination of pulling data from public records and getting a feed from the MLS. In the case of public records, they may list a property as a foreclosure that simply has a NOD filed

The price you see listed is what the opening bid was for the property at a trustees sales and no one bid on it. When the banks actually list the property for sale, they have a magical formula that they use. some of them make sense and others don’t generally the trend right now is to price REO listings at or below fair market value

Diane is a little wrong in the listing part. A bank can only assign give a listing to a broker to list in the MLS after they actually own it, they can not list it until the foreclosure is completed, not while it is in the process. Sometimes there is a delay in the date it get listed from the date the bank got ownership. It can be due to many factors, including there being a tenant in the property Some banks are holding back listing all of their REOs so they don't further the price drop due to too many REOs being available for sale.

I have a great free search engine that only lists properties that are actually listed on the MLS for sale.
You can get the link on my website
http://www.SanDiegoHomeGuru.com

It really is completely free and it gives you a lot of property info including address, listing price and pictures. Other websites charge you $$ for than info

Jay Gedanken
Broker Associate
PineappleHut Realty
858-605-5839
Jay@pineapplehut.com

Not sure when/how Trulia makes the change for your first question. The home is actually a foreclosure and a resale as well so it probably doesn't matter technically. #2 No. The bank determines what price to list it for sale, usually what I call "low to go". 3. As soon as the bank becomes aware of the foreclosure being complete and can assign it to an agent, it gets added to the MLS. Many of them are being assigned while the auction is taking place on the court house steps. However, some banks still don't have their act together. I saw one come on the MLS yesterday that became bank owned in the spring. The bank ordered it to be winterized in July, which of course doesn't need to be done. How messed up is that? It can be frustrating to all involved, however that's where many of the good deals are to be had. Good luck! BTW, you can see them all and search for yourself from many realtor's websites including mine.

Diane Conaway, Accredited Buyer's Representative, RE/MAX United, (760) 749-2888