Laxmi,
I know it is fun looking on your own, but as most of the other Realtors have already stated Realtytrac is not always up to date. Somefolks that are behind on their payments get a little teed off when prospective buyers start comming by - Our office REO listing agents could tell you some stories here in Montgomery County. I would contact a Realtor to assist you in your search and offer. If they are have worked with Foreclosures they can tell if the home is truly for sale or sold. You may also go out and find the new owner - a HUD home, and some others, can close pretty fast with a cash offer.
A Realtor that works in foreclosures will also be able to assist you better with the offer process, Some you will want to offer more and some you can go less - you do not want to lose a good deal because you did not know which was which.
That Sweat equity as I tell my buyers it is, is a lot of fun, but you need to know which areas it will pay off in.
A Realtor can also help you with area trends. If you are looking in different areas you do not always need a different Realtor for each. As long as the realtor is willing to show you the homes the rest of the process of investigating the area can be done online.
Good Luck -

Margaret

Sun May 11 2008, 08:17

Laxmi,

Realtytrac includes homes posted for foreclosure, not just ones that have actually gone through the process. Many of these will work out a deal before they go through the process. It is a good start, but not always accurate with the info you need. There are agents out there that specialize in foreclosure listings and they can show you the ropes. This can be especially helpful on your first venture.

Sun May 4 2008, 13:05

Hello Laxmi,

Not sure that the information you are getting from this website is very reliable. There are tons of Forclosure properties on the market right now. I have recently helped five of my clients purchase a foreclosure home and, candidly, they got a pretty good deal. I'll be glad to share some information with you and send you some current foreclosure listings.

Hope this helps.

Juan Carlos

Sun May 4 2008, 11:07

Most of the homes on RealtyTrac go in their via the banks who have the foreclosures or the listing agent of the foreclosures. Due to Realty Trac not being updated or having an expiration date on the homes that go in, these homes can be as old as 6 months or more, so chances are very good that the people you are finding in the homes are either the new owners of the home or renters of the new owner of the home.

If you need updated information on foreclosures in the Lake Houston Area, please feel free to contact us as we can send you a listing of all the CURRENT foreclosures in the area that you are looking in.

Sun May 4 2008, 10:04

Not all you find thru realtytrac is true or the system is not update dated as realtors MLS search that can specify per your request for a search. Keep in mind not all foreclosures, / bank reo's / bank owned homes are below market value. There are tips and tricks on submitting winning bids for Texas foreclosures.
Keep in mind in order to submit any offer on a property you must be pre-approved for a loan most realtors will not work with a buyer unless you have a letter of approval. I am a realtor and a loan officer we can assist you with your loan.

NOTE: never purchase a property unless you have a real estate agent who represents you that if you are purchasing from a builder, seller, bank. We answer to many calls a day or emails where the buyer did not have a real estate agent working on their behalf. By that time it's too late for a realtor to become involved.

Sun May 4 2008, 09:30

It means that those people were late on their payment on the house at one point, it doesn't mean that it's been foreclosed on at all.

Sun May 4 2008, 08:59

Thank you for all your replies.The home I found on realtytrac which is a bankowned home, is not listed on the banks reo website either.

Sun May 4 2008, 07:33

You can do a Google search and go directly to Bank Owned Properties by entering in the institution and placing REO after.... Like Countrywide REO.

This will take you directly to there listed properties...

Sun May 4 2008, 06:53

Hi Laxmi,

I once had a searched for foreclosure sites and found one of my listed homes on one of the sites I pulled up. It was not a foreclosure, and thank heavens, it did sell with few problems. I know that the owner was running late on payments, and I suspect that perhaps these sites pay for lists of properties that could be in trouble soon. As Jim stated, the primary reason for these sites to be around isn't to inform the general public. The one that I found my listed home on was trying to sell a memership where you would receive all the foreclosures for the county as soon as they listed, others are to get agents to pay for leads.

In my area, by the way, foreclosures tend to not be a spectacular deal. I've found much better luck, in general, with HUD homes and the occasional truly motivated seller.

Good luck in your search!

Sun May 4 2008, 06:38

At one level, it could mean that the information was not current, or the GIGO principal was in force. Realistically though, it means that you should retain a buyer's agent. It likely will not cost you anything, and a knowledgeable agent can inform you about the myriad complexities of buying foreclosed properties.

BTW--Did you notice that realtytrac.com has two differently worded links to its agent search form on its home page? The primary purpose of the site is to generate leads for the agents who pay for referrals from the site. Albeit the information on the site is helpful, it is not everything you may wish to have known, and you should consider finding an agent through the form or posting a call for an agent here on Trulia. Good luck.

Sun May 4 2008, 06:17