Foreclosures in Aliso Viejo

Foreclosures in Aliso Viejo

Over the past few months, people have been asking about foreclosures in Aliso Viejo. "How do I get my hands on a really good foreclosure deal in Aliso Viejo?" 

The best way to get a great deal on a foreclosure is to know it is going to hit the market before everybody else. The way I recommend doing this is to begin with the short sale homes. A short sale is when the owner of a house owes more money on the house then it is worth and decides they are either unwilling or unable to make the payments. At this point, the homeowner has two options: foreclose on the house or try to arrange a short sale. The short sale is a negotiation with the bank to sell the house for less than it is worth and the bank will "eat the loss." This is far more appealing to the home owner since a short sale only affects your credit for two years where as a foreclosure will affect your credit for 7 years. 

Foreclosures in Aliso Viejo can be great deals

The homeowner decides to pursue the short sale and has the house listed by a real estate agent (often for an under market price). The house is entered on the MLS and buyers begin to view the house. Once an offer is made for the house, it is submitted to the bank for approval. This approval can be a VERY long process. Often, the bank will not approve the short sale for the offered price (even if it is full asking price). You see, the bank does not approve how much the house is listed for, or necessarily even know how much it is worth. If they don't like the price, they will reject the short sale and foreclose on the home. 

This is your opportunity! Find a good real estate agent who understands the local market and specializes in foreclosures in Aliso Viejo (or whatever area you are looking in) and start viewing short sale properties. When you find one that you really like for the right price, put in an offer. If the bank accepts it...great! If not, watch the MLS very closely. If you have a great agent, he or she should be able to find out which real estate company is going to list the property before it hits the market. Have your agent call the listing office and find out exactly when it will be listed. 

It is not uncommon for the new price of the home to be less than the price of the short sale. As odd as this sounds, there is a logical reason for this. Once the bank forecloses on a property, they hire an appraiser to assess the value of the house. One of the first thing the appraiser will do is look up the previous list price of the home when it was being short sold. They will see the price and often assume that since it was listed for that price and did not sell... it must be worth less. What the appraiser may not know is that there were multiple offers on the home, but the bank did not approve them. So,  the appraiser recommends that they list the price lower. The bank will almost always follow the appraisers recommendation.

The minute, and I mean minute the property hits the market, submit your offer. The listing agent is required to submit offers as they come in. If you can get your offer in quick enough, the bank may accept your offer before anyone else has a chance to submit one. The bank wants the property off their books ASAP and will make a decision on offers very fast.

This is exactly how my wife and I got our foreclosure in Aliso Viejo. It takes a few months, but it is certainly worth the wait since you can get amazing deals!

To contact a real estate agent who specializes in foreclosures in Aliso Viejo click here