Here are Market America Realty and Investments, Inc. in addition to our traditional sales division, we are dealing with foreclosed homes. We take over the property for the bank, secure the property, do a BPO ( A formal Broker Price Opinion), order repairs, and supervise putting the home on the market. ( Here is our Asset Managment Page)

The process is interesting really. At 5PM one day I may get an order to start working on 123 Main Street, for example. I receive documents that indicate the bank as taken over owner ship of the house by email.  I pull all the information I can about the house off the County tax site and see if there were any old MLS listings for the house. ( This gives me inside pictures and listing history.  Then I go to the house that evening and determine if it is vacant. If it is, I gain access to the home, survey the home for damage and existence of appliances etc,. I take pictures, change the locks and walk around the neighborhood to learn what I can about he area and the surrounding houses. The next day I put the utilities in my name. I then spend about two hours doing the BPO - comparing this home to three homes that sold and three that are on the market that compete with it.  I suggest a lisint and sales price to the bank.  All this information is sent to the bank within 24 hours of my getting the order - 48 hours at the latest.

Once they get my information, the bank orders a BPO from someone else to get another opinion on the value of the  home.  In the meantime if there is work that needs to be done on the home I order bids from contractors to do things like, replace windows, fix the well, replace the air compressor, or other major repairs.

In my report I suggest a listing price to the bank. The banks wants a sale within 30 days, so the price will generally be pretty attractive.  I will give them two prices. One for "AS IS" one for the home repaired. Without exception I have been able to sell all my REO homes "AS IS"  - this is quicker for the bank and generally a better deal for the buyer.

I keep a short list of emails of people looking for certain homes and they are put on alert when I know I have one coming up.  I have, for example, one coming up in Lehigh that I think will hit the MLS at about $50,000. I may have three offers by the time I get price approval from the bank. The contact will be executed normally with in three days of listing.

  By the way...the only foreclosed homes you can tour are the ones that have already sold or are priced high enough to stay on the market long enough for a tour. Think about it.  Gregg