Carl. I was not answering Ryan's question as much as I was trying to clarify the role of the REO manager. And my answer is correct. The ownership chain, in Colorado will look like this;

Buy, default, notice of intent to foreclose, cure period, county auction, redemption period.

If the bank took the house back at the county auction, and the home owner does not redeem the property, the REO manager is responsible for selling it for the bank. Until that final redemption period expires, nobody but the home owner has any right to sell the property.

General clarification- You only get a deal if you know a REO manager personally. This means sometimes, rarely or not enought to waste your time working a foreclosure. To get more specific, I believe that you have a better chance of getting a great deal by either writing hand written notes and putting them on doors or dropping 15-30% off offer with a realtor who knows how to spot a deal with older properties.

I sold 3 properties for over a $mil last month, 20% off asking price. It works!

Amen JR...Amen..........................lol

Carl wrote:
Sorry to be a snot but if there was a correct answer to the original question then many Realtors would be out of a job and trulia would not be needed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Actually, if there were a correct answer for this question, many Realtors would be getting rich flipping properties rather than schlepping lookie loo low ballers around in their cars. :)

OK, I'm confussed. First, Perry says the deal is with the REO manager before auction then the second e-mail says that it has to go to auction before the final bid is accepted. Now Kent states "Once the REO agent has the property, the foreclosure auction is already over and no fraud is taking place".

Is it me or do we have too many Realtor's in this country? So many condradictions in answers.

Sorry to be a snot but if there was a correct answer to the original question then many Realtors would be out of a job and trulia would not be needed.

I guess the next couple of lean years will weed out the "Wanna be" Realtors from the ones that became one to make a fast buck during the good times.

Perry, #3 is an excellent idea which I can see comes from someone willing to try anything in the Realestate biz. Bravo to you for coming up with a great idea.

Perry is right. REO managers have a job to do, and a network of friends and professionals that help them liquidate "non-performing assets". Once the REO agent has the property, the foreclosure auction is already over and no fraud is taking place. The REO manager does not just slide a deed out the backdoor, he sells the property with the full knowledge and consent of the bank officers.

If you want the deals that do not need $100,000 in pet odor mitigation, get to know an REO agent. Look at it this way, if you had a house to sell and you knew four people who always buy houses, would you list your house and hope one of them found it Tulia, or would call all four of them and see which one makes you the best offer?

I wrote about this before so I'm glad you ask.

The REO manager has a short list of "cash/close in 2 day buyers", they always get the first right to bid. Then they have to wait for the "public auction" Which drives up those prices. After a 30-60 day period. Then the REO picks the best bid. Sometimes, only sometimes does a REO manager take a property directly to a buyer he knows peronsally. Why should he, he has a bunch of people bidding and driving up the prices.

My REO manager friend likes to joke about all the "first timers" who continue to drive up the bid when they don't hear anything from the bank. Every time I see the "how come I haven't heard from the bank about accepting my foreclosure bid after 30+ days" on trulia, I have to let out a chuckle because he's so right. For those newbies, this is real. They know that when you don't hear from them that a large percentage of people drop a second or third offer higher than the previous one. **WARNING, YOU ARE BEING TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF HERE**

You want a deal on a property right, everyone wants that.... So the moral of this story is:
1. the 60 days you have to wait to hear from a REO, you could have made 2 or 3 better deals with a property that has been on the market for a long period of time. Any realtor can help you drop a crazy offer.
2. You are attempting to make a deal in a house covered in a cloud of bad energy, don't be surprised when it rubs off. Personally I stay away from these for this reason entirely.
3. One way to get a deal is dropping a hand written note on ANY house in a neighborhood you want to buy that says "my girlfriend and I want to buy a house in this neighborhood and yours looks cute from the outside. Do you know anyone that is looking to sell?" I always get responses, better prices and positive energy into the home.

I hope this helps.

So Perry, what your saying is that the REO managers at all these institutions are on the take? They will authorize an insider deal before going to auction....hmmmmm...sounds fishy to me. I'd love to meet a REO manager who is willing to defraud his bank or finance institution for a friend!

The reality of the foreclosurer market is that the sellers are so upside down on the loan that the only option is to walk away from the property and let the bank deal with unloading it.


By the way, I'm interested in buying more foreclosers so please pass along any REO managers names that are in the Chicagoland area! I'd love to swindle a great deal ...heck..I'd even kick back a buck or two to the manager! lol

FORECLOSURE REALITY CHECK.... Seasoned investors who buy foreclosures know the REO manager at the bank and get "off market" deals. They never have to bid or find a place to learn what's available.

FOR ALL OTHERS: The only "sellers market" in america is the foreclosure market. Don't expect any deals from a foreclosure as the bidding process brings 20-30 people to bid on almost every deal. A deal that was already priced at market. For government foreclosed homes, by law, they have to be priced "at market".

It's easier to get a deal by going to a realtor, asking them to find the oldest property on the market and start dropping discounted offers. In addition, you won't have to wait 30-60 days to hear an answer.

Yea, let me know the answer too since I live in the Chicagoland area aw well!

When you figure that out, you can come back online, and give us all a seminar!