About Short Sales

The real estate market has been suffering great losses in the United States due to bank foreclosures. Both bank foreclosures and pre-foreclosures are at all time highs and the homeowners and lenders are both suffering from it. Many honest, hard working American homeowners are suffering financial crisis due to the collapsing economy and are losing their homes at record highs. Some homeowners are forced to face bank foreclosure after getting behind on just a couple of payments. The ridiculously high interest rates and outrageous late fees are making things worse for both sides. How can the banks expect to get any extra money from the homeowners who are struggling just to pay the minimum payments?

If homeowners facing foreclosure can act quickly enough, they can go ahead and sell their home for low prices before the banks officially forecloses them. This is called “pre-foreclosure”. Pre-foreclosure is a grace period that is given to many homeowners who are close to foreclosure. During the pre-foreclosure period, the home still belongs to the borrowers and they have a right to sell it to interested buyers. The pre-foreclosure grace period can last anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 months, varying from state to state.

The homeowners have a chance to earn a little money as well when facing pre-foreclosure. Pre-foreclosure is a grace period after the time they made their last payment and before they’re officially facing foreclosure. The public is notified ahead of time that a home is facing foreclosure, which gives interested buyers time to make a deal with the homeowners before the bank officially takes the home back. Pre-foreclosures give homeowners enough time to sell the home at a very low price as well. They money they receive can help them in affording another place to live.

Investing in foreclosure and pre-foreclosure homes and reselling them for much more is now an excellent way to earn a lot of money. For instance, you can buy foreclosure and pre-foreclosure homes for 10% of their worth, and then resell them for 70% of their market value. Even if you’ve never had an interest in real estate before, the opportunities are abundant. But where will you find these opportunities?

You can always look through your local classified ads, but there are also state by state listings that can be found on the internet! There are many foreclosure and pre-foreclosure listing sites which will allow you to bid and purchase electronically. Unfortunately though, wherever there is money to be made, there are also scams. Some so called “foreclosure” and “pre-foreclosure” listing sites will charge you an outrageous membership fee, but then fail to give you the access to any real listings! They will only provide you with expired and out of date listings.

Of course there really are legitimate, truthful foreclosure and pre-foreclosure listings found on the internet for every city in America. Many government auction sites offer real bidding opportunities for foreclosure homes. So how will you know exactly which membership sites are trustworthy and which ones are not? Thankfully there are government auction review sites that have all the information you’ll ever need. The professionals behind the government auction reviews go digging into government auction sites and test their legitimacy. They have inside information on several government auction sites and listings.

Many of these membership sites offer real, top deals on real estate, bank foreclosures, and contact information for homeowners selling their pre-foreclosure homes. Make sure you read the government auction reviews before you sign up for any membership sites. You will receive the best advice and information about the most trustworthy foreclosure and pre-foreclosure listings!

Government surpluses and abandoned properties are sold at government auctions to the general population at discounted prices. There are government auctions held in every state many times a month. No matter where you live in US or Canada, you’ll be able to find great deals at these auctions. Consider the investment possibilities or even starting your own business.

The government surplus items sold at government auctions are items not required by the federal, state, and local government. These items can come from the government purchasing more than they needed, or technological equipment that has been updated.

Items found at government auctions can also come from businesses that have gone bankrupt. Many of these items found at government auctions can include furniture, computers, electronics, furniture, and miscellaneous equipment. Most people don’t think of these types of items at a government auction, however, it’s where you can get these types of used items the cheapest.

Government auctions include seized properties which are made up of bank foreclosures, bankrupt commercial businesses, properties owned by convicted criminals, etc. Police often seize property if the owner is sentenced for a crime or if the property was used for a crime. The government also seizes the homes of the owners who are unable to keep up with their mortgage payments.

Property can be declared abandoned for many reasons: death of the owner with no heir, the owner leaving as they can’t afford it, zoning laws, etc. The government always tries to find the property owner before officially declaring the property abandoned.

You can find out where and when government auctions will be held in your state by searching the internet. There are many membership sites that will offer you details on the abandoned properties, seized properties, and government surplus items that will be offered at your local government auctions.

Read government auction reviews on the web to find out where the best membership deals are. This will help prevent you from falling into the many scams that are on the web.

It’s a tragedy that many people are forfeiting their homes during this sub-prime real estate crisis. It was recently reported that foreclosures account for 50% of the homes currently being sold in the US. Even though many people are losing their homes, there are many others who can finally afford a home or are now investing into real estate and taking advantage of these discounted prices.

Most real estate investors see this current crisis as an opportunity as it’s the perfect time to buy cheap and hold until the market returns to normal. “There are always opportunities”, explains Donald Trump. “When I first started out in Manhattan, everyone was saying what a terrible market it was”. It’s a good thing he didn’t listen to anyone else’s advice or he won’t be where he is today.

Many of the top real estate investors, including Mr. Trump, now feel that this is currently a good time to invest in real estate by purchasing pre-foreclosed or foreclosed properties.

The main reason is unlike foreclosures, a pre-foreclosure is made privately between the owner and buyer and therefore avoids the bank auction foreclosure process. This provides many advantages to the buyer including more time to inspect the inside of the house and a better chance to establish a mortgage with a bank.

There are macro (local community, etc.) and micro aspects to take into consideration when looking for a pre-foreclosed home. Here are the some of the macro aspects:

- Look around the neighborhood to see how many homes are being foreclosed. It’s best that the house you’re considering for purchase is the only one facing foreclosure. Obviously the more homes in forced sale, the more likely the properties will depreciate.

- Check with the local tenants to see what the rent levels are and whether they have been increasing or decreasing over the last little while.

- What is the employment rate in the area? If declining then that may indicate that it’s not the right area in which to invest. Does the local economy appear to be stable?

- Check with local authorities to become informed about any infrastructure projects that may be planned within the next two or three years. Things such as new buildings and highways being built or corporations moving into town can be a positive indication of future growth.

- What are the demographics? If there is an extremely high level of seniors in town and only a small percentage living in nursing homes, guess what, it could cause a housing surplus within 10 years or so.

If you do your due diligence and find positive answers to these questions when considering a pre-foreclosure then you can feel secure that it is a good community in which to invest. Successful real estate investors buy discounted properties at the right location at the right time.