Rhonda,

If you are a first time home buyer, now would not be a good time to pursue a short sale, due to the time crunch for the $8000 Tax Credit. Bank owned homes can be a great opportunity to get a great deal. I have worked several deals that went very smooth and did not take any longer than a normal transaction. Like everyone else has mentioned, every bank is different. The best way to approach them is to expect a delay and be realistic about the current situation with regard to foreclosed properties. The banks are overwhelmed with a large amount of properties to liquidate. If you go to my website, you can search just for bank owned properties by clicking on the drop-down menu on the bottome left of the search page under "disclosures". http://www.WilsonMovedMe.com You can add any additional criteria to the search as well.

Please give me a call, if you have any questions!

Thank you,

Tony Wilson
Keller Williams Realty
317-354-7410
WilsonMovedMe@gmail.com

Rhonda,

You need to have a boatload of patience and allot depends on who holds the mortgage. I have sold REOs and short sales and a foreclosed home takes a whole lot less time than a short sale normally. But as the other person pointed out, you are buying AS IS and must be prepared to take on from little to massive amounts of repair and updating. With prices being as low as they are right now, I think you would be best served to determine your budget for a house, get your pre-qualification letter in hand and then find a good agent who is willing to work FOR YOU to find the right house. I would tell you to see if you can buy one through a regular sale in your price range. You might be surprised at how far your dollar can go these days! Good Luck!

The key to buying a foreclosure or short sale property is patience! Also keep in mind that many bank owned properties will not pay for repairs that may be deemed necessary after you complete your inspections-they are often sold AS IS!

Rhonda Wilson,

This is a great question, thanks for asking this. So many people right now are asking about forclosures and short sales due to the developments in the real estate market. As an agent in Indiana I can say that Sam's answer is pretty much spot on. I am currently helping a client purchase a Foreclosure since I helped them sell their current home. They will actually have possesion of their new home before the seller gets possesion of their home. So they will have time to paint without having furniture to worry about. It worked out pretty nice.

On the other hand the last Short Sale I closed took six months! The bank took 45 days to respond to the offer, 25 more for the Counter Offer, and the process was very difficult. everytime we thought we were making head-way they lender changed Loss Midigators and we had to start all over. It can be quite stressfull but there are certainly some great deals to be made, if you have the patience.

Best of luck in your real estate goals.

My experience in the Indianapolis area has has been regardless of whether it's a short sale or foreclosure, the amount of time it takes to get a response depends on the bank, and those assigned to the property, the real estate company that's listing the house. Some are great about getting responses and information through the process, others have very tedious processes. I would recommend you work with a real estate agent experienced in foreclosures to help you with the process. The bank pays all the real estate fees, so it's a free service for the buyer, but one that could save you a whole lot of money and stress.

Good luck.
Laura

That really depends......Is it really forclosed on? Does the bank have marketable title? Are any liens cleared?
If it has been forclosed on and the bank is activly marketing it to get it off it's books, it could take as little as 30-45 days. Possibly less. Remember the process here...A short sale is not forclosed on and requires the lender to take less than owed. A forclosure has usually run it's course and all options have been exhausted. The bank has bought it back, so to speak, for the loan balance and are in control of the property. Examples of forclosures are the HUD homes(FHA forclosured mortgages) and VA homes, (VA forclosed mortgages). When brought to market, these are usually ready to liquidate. For other forclosures, you need to identify where in the process of controlling the property they are at.

Doesn't always take longer once the offer is accepted, sometimes the mortgage holder is slow to respond to offers though so plan on at least 3-7 days for that.
My experience has been just don't expect common sense.
Best of luck
Dan Baize

Hi Rhonda,

Usually foreclosed properties move quicker than short sale properties. With short sales there is a lot of back and forth with the bank. With foreclosures the bank want to get rid of the asset as soon as possible.

Hope this helps,

Matthew

I can't speak for homes in Indiana but can for foreclosed homes in California. I am sure it's the same. No, it is much easier to purchase a home already foreclosed on. The bank is now the owner and the bank does not want to keep the home so it will list the home with a local real estate agent for sale. A short-sale homes takes much longer to purchase due to the fact that the bank or banks (if more than one loan) have to agree on getting less for the home than their current note against the property.