Updates to Minnesota Home Search
New updates are here (or close) to the home search on Living Twin Cities. The great people over at Diverse Solutions are at it again, delivering the best search options for consumers interested in searching the web for homes.
Yes, Foreclosures are now available
The biggest update is the ability to search for foreclosures in Minnesota, this that is all that anybody wants to buy these days. It has always been hard to identify properties that are in foreclosure, distressed or bank owned homes (kinda like a shot in the dark), but now since they are so ‘mainstream’ they are easier to find. Also available will be the opportunity to search form homes in Minnesota that are in default, short sale or pre-foreclosure.
Plenty of other features
The home search should always be easy and fast, giving you what you want. Here are some of the latest features:
- Search for FSBO (For Sale By Owner) homes and Zillow homes that are listed that are ‘Make Me Move‘ homes
- If you choose to save your searches, you can make notes about properties that you like
- Wondering what homes are falling in price, search for homes with a percentage price drop over a period of days
- Search for homes in a specific school district only
- RSS Feeds available for city/community/tract
- and as always, the fastest search around with no load time
So there you go, knock yourself out and let me know what you think in the comments below!
Lender foreclosure auction returns in Minnesota
Lender Bank Foreclosure auction returns to Minneapolis on November 15th and 16th. Another 400+ homes up for grabs. This auction was just here over the summer, lenders must be getting desperate if they are pulling REO properties after a few months on the market. I recently had a listing in a neighborhood where two properties were pulled to be in the auction after limited time on market. There might be some good finds, although I am sure anybody and everybody will be there given the amount of annoying commercials on television.
Make sure to get inside the house early to inspect the property before you place your bid. Public open houses are Saturday November 1st and 8th as well as Sunday November 9th. The houses are open from 11am to 4pm all days.
I have plans to be there. Let me know if you are going and we can meet up.
MinnesotaREOBuyers.com offers insight to REO properties
I have created a new website in the helps of helping buyers understand REO properties in Minnesota. Check out the website www.minnesotareobuyers.com
REO Properties in Apple Valley, Eagan and Rosemount
REO properties have remained somewhat under control in these popular suburbs. Recently there have been more bank owned REO listings and foreclosures coming onto the market. Some of the listings are short sales as well.
Current Eagan REO Inventory
- 10 Condos
- 15 Townhouses
- 23 Single Family Homes
Current Apple Valley REO inventory
- 2 Condos
- 25 Townhouses
- 22 Single Family Homes
Current Rosemount REO inventory
- 6 Townhouses
- 6 Single Family Homes
Looking at inventory in Apple Valley, there have been a lot of homes that have come on the market lately $300,000 and higher. Most of the REO properties in Eagan are condos and townhouses. Rosemount has yet to feel the effect, but also didn’t have the overbuilding that the other cities have had.
As far as closed REO home sales, there have been 19 closed sales compared to 48 closed sales that are not bank owned homes since July 1st.
Fed says second ring suburbs next for foreclosures
A recent article in the Twin Cities Business Journal touches on the subject of the next wave of foreclosures coming to the second ring suburbs like Apple Valley, Woodbury and Minnetonka. Over 30 zip codes have been classified as potential problem areas with resetting sub-prime adjustable rate mortgages (ARM’s).
The Federal Reserve of New York has some dynamic maps of nonprime mortgage conditions that you can view for statistics. These maps give you a broader overview of zip codes and areas that are heavy with sub-prime loans.
This of course is nothing new with foreclosures in the inner city and outer ring suburbs with straw buyers but these are cities that have so far relatively weathered the foreclosure crisis.
I would have pulled some data but the MLS FINALLY came up with a way to better track REO/Foreclosures and therefore it is hard to compare accurate data from previous years.
Cash is King in REO Properties, Unless…
With lending starting to tighten up because of recent legislation passing and the shake ups at major banks, some home buyers are starting to find it difficult to find lending on certain properties. Those properties are none other than REO properties that are flooding the market right now.
Why can’t buyers get funding?
Since most REO properties are in distress, in order to obtain funding most appraisals are not passing so banks are unwilling to lend the money unless it is a 203K or rehab loan to fix the property. Very few banks are going to put the money in for the required repairs and are thus asking for buyers to obtain a 203K.
Recently working with a couple of different clients, this type of loan has been the only thing that they will accept. But trying to find a lender that actually has this type of product has proven difficult.
Should have gotten a Hazmat suit…
Should have gotten one of these, but this is all I could afford or find (depends on how you spin it) for a walk thru of this home in need of desperate repairs or gut down to the studs.
After weeks and months of the bank trying to figure out what the hell to do or who the hell is going to pay for this attitude, they finally got the ball rollin. This property is finally destined for clean up.
With a quick in and out fearing for my health (not really) but still not something you don’t want to come in contact with. Job done quickly with 30 pics to submit to the bank to show them how much time and expensive this one project will be for taking so much time. When I first entered the house back in April, there was no mold on the walls yet. Stuff grows fast and quick.
Oh yeah, that’s mold everywhere. The spores are flying around the house.
Stay tuned for the after photos…
Watchout for wicked provisions when dealing with Bank Owned homes
With all the offers going around on bank owned homes these days and only projected to be more. It is important to understand what exactly you are getting into. Banks usually have their own addendum’s or contracts that take precedent over local or state contracts.
Most banks also would like to see a home close within 30 days of final agreement and don’t like to allow for any contingencies except for maybe an inspection. When walking in to write an offer on a bank owned home, you better be free and clear along with being ready to follow through.
Don’t get cold feet when motoring along on a bank owned purchase, they are not so nice in releasing that earnest money deposit. Banks want the properties off the books and little hiccups along the way.
Here is a recent excerpt
In the event that Buyer does not serve notice to Seller of Buyer’s failure to procure the mortgage loan commitment within the time period set forth herein, then the contract shall continue in full force and effect, without any financing contingency, and Buyer shall have waived all right to terminate this contract pursuant to this provision
Sounds fun, but in the end it is the buyer that out loses out.
Make sure you read things carefully. If you don’t understand it, read it over and over again. Ask your agent plenty of questions.
Finally, Foreclosure/REO input into NorthstarMLS
Finding Foreclosures and REO properties just got a whole lot easier for everybody interested in buying in real estate in the Twin Cities. Now there is an input that directly categorizes whether or not a property is in foreclosure or lender owned. Before, agents had to rely heavily on agent remark search terms to pull the properties which might have meant missing out on some key properties.
When consumers or buyers search for homes on the Internet, most of the time the property doesn’t say if it is a REO or foreclosure. The release to the broker reciprocity will be available shortly and will be a huge benefit to you, the home buyer or investor!
I have to clean this up?
Well to answer the question Yes and No. Here is a house I walked into almost two months ago (literally, house unlocked for who knows how long). The current status of the house is REO (Real Estate Owned) and is still sitting there in this current condition.
The house was left abandoned and was not properly winterized. I can’t exactly say what happened but pretty sure I can make a spot on guess. The pipes froze leaving water running all over the house for an undetermined amount of time. The sheetrock was so wet it feel off the ceilings and walls, the sub-flooring is warped and mold is growing by the hour.
So, what exactly happens in a situation like this? Well, typically what happens is the agent working for lender has to go in and right the situation. They have to act as the ‘general contractor’ on behalf of the lender to get the house ready for sale.
First things first, the house has to be secured. The locks are drilled out or picked, then changed out with new ones. Then the property is cleaned out or what the REO biz calls a ‘Trash Out’ is performed. A winterization is only done during the winter months so pipes don’t freeze and break.
Depending on the what has to be accomplished for the property to be ready for sale it can take a couple of days or in the case of this property 2 months and counting. When a lender gets a property with excessive damage, it will take forever and unfortunately nobody wants to deal with it. In the meantime the property just sits and rots, I can’t even begin to explain what the property smelled like when I first set foot in it.
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