Buying Foreclosures, REOs. Short Sales, FSBO, MLS and More

Another sign that the housing market slowed down during the fourth quarter: Fannie Mae, the nation’s largest mortgage guarantor, saw demand for foreclosed properties dip at the end of the year.

Fannie reported last week an $84 billion annual profit for 2013 on the backs of large home-price gains and a series of one-time legal and accounting benefits. But the report also showed that its inventory of foreclosed homes increased for the second straight quarter as it begins to take back more properties in Florida and other states where foreclosures have been tied up in courts.

And the report showed that the prices Fannie received on those properties, as a share of the underlying mortgage balances, declined slightly from the prior quarter for the first time in 2½ years.

Concerning a foreclosure, how can I benefit from a foreclosure when im the matchmaker? I cant do an assignment or a double close since im dealing with the bank right? Would I be able to bird dog it? If I bird dog it, with the agreement to have the buyer use my realtor (since it was my realtor who found it) won't I risk that the buyer develop a relationship with my realtor and then use him directly?

Im a bit confused with Assignments VS Double closes.
I know we shouldn't consider FHA properties or foreclosures since were dealing with banks. However, I've been told you cannot use an REO with Assignment of contracts yet you could use an REO property to do a double close. Why is that when its bank owned?? in Addition, when would be an ideal situation to do a double close??

any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

A 401(k) investment account is flexible enough to acquire and hold investment grade real estate as part of your retirement plan. Self Employed business owners with a 401(k) or Employees with an employer sponsored 401(k)retirement account may transfer those assets to a SEP IRA which will also allow plan proceeds to be invested in real estate.

Before making any transfers consult the plan administrator to make sure the transfer will not break the qualified status of the plan. The process is quite simple:

IVE CAME ACROSS A A REO CHINEDRYWALL PROPERTY THAT HAS BEEN COMPLETED STRIPPED TO ITS FRAMEWORK AND ITS IN ITS BARE STATE. ASKING PRICE IS $99K AND IN THAT SAME COMUNITY HOUSES ARE GOIN FOR $130K-$140K. IT HAS A CDD AND HOA COST OF ABOUT $154MTH. TAXES ARE ABOUT $350 MTH. HOW DO I FIGURE OUT IF ITS A GOOD DEAL I THINK THE REHAB WILL BE A GOOD $40-$50K.

Please read this website in its entirety to fully understand the sale of the subject property. This is an Fannie Mae HECM (Home Equity Conversion Mortgage) reverse mortgage foreclosure, which must be sold subject to 24 CFR 206.125. (This means there are very specific guidelines outlined for the sale of this property, which are outlined below. You can read further HERE and HERE.) Even though this is a Fannie Mae product, it has its own set of unique guidelines that are NOT the same as conventional Fannie Mae guidelines.

I found an interesting article on Yahoo talking about areas that have the highest percentage of foclusures sold. These stats are from the month of Dec.

10) Sacramento CA 25.4% of properteis sold were forclosures
9) Chicago, IL 26.9%
Cleveland, OH 28.6%
7) Riverside / San Bernardino, CA 28.8%
6) Memphis, TN 29.5%
5) Miami / Fort Lauderdale, FL 29.6%
4) Tampa / St. Petersburg, FL 30.1%
3) Detroit MI 33%
2) Orlando / Kissimmee FL 35.9%
1) Las Veagas, NV 40%

Property values in these areas are on the rise but there are still a lot of foreclosures being sold.

Sean O'Toole has purchased upward of 150 investment homes at courthouse auctions, or trustee auctions. They aren't for the fainthearted, he says.

"These take a more sophisticated effort (than the larger auctions)," says O'Toole, founder and chief executive of ForeclosureRadar.com, a foreclosure service for real-estate professionals. "They are a different animal. Five guys standing around a courthouse with a million dollars in checks in their pockets -- that can be bizarre and a little intimidating."

The "notice of trustee sale," sometimes called a "sheriff's sale," will be published in a newspaper of record once a week for at least three weeks prior to the sale date. You need to do your homework before attending, O'Toole says.
What's your home worth?

Stealing a deal at regional public auctions
1. Timing. When several bidders are jockeying for a property, wait until the bids start to die down before making yours. There's no sense fueling the fire.

2. First dibs. The first few properties offered often sell for less because most bidders are trying to get a feel for pricing patterns before jumping into the fray.

3. Dress (and act) the part. Some buyers like to dress like bankers and arrive early to position themselves near the auctioneer. That's so other bidders will assume they're representing the lender and possibly shrink back from a bidding war.

If you're among the many people looking to buy foreclosures at auction, don't fear that the decline in filings over the past several months will rob you of your chance at a fabulous buy.

Home foreclosure filings declined steadily from August through February but were still significantly higher than they were a year ago, according to RealtyTrac, a leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties.

Home foreclosure filings for February -- including default notices, scheduled foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions -- numbered 308,524, a decrease of 2% from the previous month, but still up 6% from February 2009. That number means one in every 418 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing in November.