Overall there are not that many foreclosures in Marin County. Right now, there are alot of what we call "short sales" A short sale is a home that the seller needs to sell and is on the market for less then what is owed. The lender must approve of the price of the offer. These take time as lenders are overwhelmed right now. These homes are on the Multiple Listing Service with a realtor.
It is very rare that in Marin a foreclosed home is going to be a great deal. Alot lender s will still look at what the market value is for a home and price it accordingly. If a lender is just looking to just retrieve what is owed and the home ends up at the courthouse, there are proffessional investors with cash who do this for a living you will be competing with, the prices usually go way up from the orginal price. You also must have at least 20% to put down as well as a pre-approved loan before you show up to court. When a home is up for auction at a courthouse, a Real Estate Agent is not allowed to assist you. You must buy the house sight unseen "as is" with no investigations. If you are still interested in foreclosures I would google foreclosures in Marin County, there are websites that you can buy that will list of foreclosed homes with the lender's name and phone number. My advise is seek a good mortgage broker first to find out what you can afford. Prices in San Rafael and Novato have dropped recently and you may be able to afford a home now without having to deal with foreclosures.

Wed Mar 5 2008, 08:48

Buying a property through the foreclosure process is a bit challenging. You may not be able to thoroughly inspect the property, have to take it "as is", and may be bidding against the foreclosure sharks (pros who do this all the time).

What I have found to be a better avenue is to approach owners who have just missed one or more payments and have just been issued their first "notice of default (NOD)". They are not in foreclosure yet, but need to take care of their situation and may be interested in selling. I track the NODs regularly, and then compare the amount of their loans to the value of the house. The key thing is that they have some equity in the property. If they don't, it isn't worth pursuing since the banks will have to be paid first. But if they do have some equity, I would then talk to them about possibly selling. Marin doesn't have as many NODs as Sonoma or other counties, but they do come up, even in places like Ross or Tiburon, believe it or not. Let me know if I can help you in your search.

Tue Mar 4 2008, 16:53

If you are buying a foreclosed (R.E.O.) property the process will be much the same as buying a non-foreclosed property. The main difference will be the disclosures. The Banks will not have very much information on the property. This makes it important to have a good agent to look after you interest. If you are talking about buying a property in foreclosure Not a R.E.O. (Real Estate Owned) I would advise against it unless to will be your primary residence. The problem with pre-forcelosure and foreclosed properties is that if there is a IRS tax lean on the former owner it is my understanding that the IRS can take the property and sell for up to 120 day after the title transfer. Also it can because of that be very hard to get title insurance in may cases. Any agent that has a few years his or her belt should be able to help you. Note there are several foreclosure brokers out there that put on auctions. These properties are R.E.O.'s and they are trying to generate interest in the properties. Make sure you ask if the bid price is subject to lender approval. If you are looking at short sale properties the process could take a month just to get the offer approved. Again a good agent should be able to guide you through the process and you might even get a better deal than a foreclosed property. Hope that helps russlee@pacbell.net

Tue Mar 4 2008, 16:09