Tony,

Utah has been experiencing some changes in our market, however I don't think that you can limit yourself to just focusing on foreclosures or shortsales. You have to broaden your search and look at all possible options for you. I've been showing hundreds of homes in the Taylorsville, West Jordan, Murray area and it is shocking what you can get for your money compared to a year ago. I haven't really seen very many foreclosures in those areas, which I think is mainly because there really isn't much new construction that was built over the hyped up bullish real estate market from 1.5 years ago.

I would love the oppertunity to serve you in any of your real estate needs, call me if you wish or use my awesome website to search properties in those areas.

James Graham - 801-898-7653 http://www.discovertaylorsville.com

Tony,
Utah is in an odd place (which is a good thing in my opinion) in terms of forclosures and real estate in general. We don't follow the rest of the nation in our trends. Even though we are dealing with a slow down in the volume of real estate changing hands, we have not seen our prices on housing as a whole drop more that a few percent in most areas. That being said, there are specific types of properties that have had a price decrease significant enough to be considered "good deals" for this state. Newly constructed homes, especially those above $400k and the luxury type properties, high end homes and condos (say $500k and up) have not only slowed in volume, but have seen a decent price pull back as well. Forclosures in these areas might be a good option. The major problem for an investor or house flipper in Utah is that we never saw a major bubble like AZ, NV, and CA. If you want incredible deals, out of state may be your best bet for finding them. Fair warning though, you will need a buyer willing to pay the fixed up price in order to capitalize on your investment and that could be tricky. If you intend to hold the property for say, 2 to 5 years, that may be the better way to really reap a nice reward. The same goes for a forclosures or distressed property in Utah. Just because you find a smokin' hot deal, doesn't mean its a slam dunk. You will still need to convince a qualified buyer to pay the fixed up price and holding and renting or living in it as your primary residence for 2+ years is probably still the best way to get a good chunk of profit. So to answer your question... No forclosures are not a waste of time. You can find some great deals in Utah and out of state. The key will be to do your homework to make sure that you can realize a good enough profit to justify your effort and expense. I agree with the first answer that the help of a Realtor who is familiar with investing or flipping and has a good feel for the forclosure/short sale market will be important. I was a house flipper for 4 years before I became a Realtor and we did make some good money buying forclosures and short sales, but we also looked at 30 to 50 properties before we bought one and in order to make a decent profit we did most of the grunt work ourselves and only hired out the specialized trades, plumbing, electrical, roofing, HVAC, etc.... We found that we couldn't make enough money to justify the trouble when we hired out the whole project, even when we found some really good contractors and handymen who worked fast and reasonably cheap. I don't want to scare you or give you the idea that it can't be done. we made $15k to $20k in 2 to 3 months flipping junky little houses in Ogden, but it was also a full time job and required some major effort to finish sometimes. Good luck and if you have more questions, feel free to call me. I would be happy help in any way I can. (801) 391-9811

Hi Tony: I am not a real estate pro but I do buy houses. I just bought a foreclosure in AZ that was appraised at $322K, county assessed at $305K, foreclosed at $255K, which I got for $190K. Plus the selling bank paid all closing costs, paid for a HOW and a new air conditioner. I went though a real estate agent that was a foreclosure specialist -- I would not rely on an agent that did not specialize in foreclosures and short sales as these types of deals can be very different from the usual transaction. I don't know if you'll find a lot of foreclosures in Utah: Countrywide only has 32 total foreclosures available in Utah currently and Bank of America has only 1. With such a small inventory, I don't think you'll find great deals. Good Luck.

Most foreclosures will require some work, but they can yield a nice return on investment. I would certainly look at foreclosures, but make sure to do your homework. I would also enlist the help of a Realtor that specializes in foreclosures. A buyer's agent won't cost you any money as their commission is paid for by the seller (bank).