Michael Danker

Elaine,

It has been my experience that bank owned (foreclosure) properties are "easier" to purchase than short sale homes (homes that the bank would agree to accept less money from the owner than is owned on the home). You still have to go through the process carefully, and be prepared for more paperwork to review as banks will often want to use their own contracts and forms.

Remember that this home is most likely 1 of many homes, that the bank is dealing with. The home is more tangible for you as you've been there and you want to buy it. For the bank, it is just numbers on a sheet of paper.

Agents shouldn't steer clients away from Short Sale or Foreclosure homes. It is an agent's job to explain the process and issues with any home purchase. If the buyer wants to move forward you should represent their interests.

One reason that agents may want to avoid these homes is that the commission paid by the bank may be less than what is paid by another seller. For the agent, the work and paperwork is still the same, or more labor intensive. - Thu Jul 24 2008, 10:13

Phil,

You can upload the listings from your profile. Scroll down to the bottom of your profile and you'll find a link to "add a home" or add another home.

I open the MLS and use that as a source for the information I load here. Some other sites will feed the Trulia site automatically, so check with your MLS provider (or do a search) to see if the home is on the site. - Sat Jun 14 2008, 12:14

Roger, In almost any market you should be able to find a good opportunity to fix and flip a home (or fix it to live in it. I live in Tucson, Arizona, and I could find many properties that would benefit from your skills. There are short sales and foreclosure homes that will sometimes need a little TLC or updating that would be great to live in while the work is done.

Where is Lake Wales? - Sat Jun 14 2008, 12:10