If you are in the market to buy a home in Woodbury, MN, chances are good that you will find a number of properties that are foreclosures. While the economy has been healthy, Woodbury foreclosures are as common as around the rest of the Twin Cities real estate market.
How To Buy Woodbury Foreclosures
One of the questions I am often asked is how to buy a foreclosure. It is not as difficult as you might think and certainly a great deal more certain than trying to buy a short sale.
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When a property in Woodbury is for sale as a foreclosure it means that the home is currently owned by the bank that had the loan on it. The previous owners were not able to make the payments on the property anymore and the bank was forced to take over the property and list it for sale. In almost all cases, this is a losing proposition for the bank that is selling the property. By selling the home they simply want to reduce their losses.
As an owner of the property the bank is responsible for making all of the utility and property tax payments as well as any required maintenance. I tell you this so that you understand that the bank has a high motivation to sell the property. This is very different from a short sale where the bank can take several months to answer your offer! In the case of a foreclosure you can often get verbal acceptance from the selling bank within a day or two.
Get Pre-Approved to buy Woodbury Foreclosures
If you want to make an offer on any one of the Woodbury foreclosures you will need to get preapproved for mortgage financing ahead of time. Plan to do this well ahead of time! Timing is of the essence when making an offer on a foreclosure. The bank simply will not look at your offer unless they have your preapproval with the offer.
I’ve gotten the call before from agents who have encouraged their buyers to get preapproved but for one reason or another the buyer delayed. They found a house, needed to make an offer but came to me too late. They missed the opportunity because the delayed on calling me for preapproval.
Getting preapproved to buy Woodbury foreclosures is like any other property which means that most of what we need to do we can do right over the telephone. I will ask about your income, assets, debts and see what you might qualify to. I understand how foreclosure negotiators work and have seen how they have begun to limit how much they are willing to build in the offer to pay your closing costs. I have strategies that I will discuss with you to help reduce the amount of down payment as much as possible.
Find Woodbury Foreclosures
Most websites now have a feature where you can limit what you are searching for to foreclosures. Additionally your agent can help you by setting you up on an automated emails that send you Woodbury foreclosures in your price range.
When you go look at the listings you will need to be prepared for seeing properties that have not been well cared for. It is not uncommon to find a rather messy looking home inside. I encourage you however to look for value, not cleanliness!
How to Get A Good Deal on A Foreclosure
We’ve all heard the great fish tales about buyers who offered half-off the listing price and by gosh the selling bank was so happy they just took the offer. If that’s what you are expecting, think again.
The issue of properties in foreclosure is not a new one. Over the last three years, Woodbury foreclosures have been selling right along. The selling banks have learned a lot about the process and they list the property at a good value right from the start. They have a specific plan on how long they will wait to accept reduced offers. The reason I tell you this is that you need to be realistic with any offer in order to get a good deal on a foreclosure!
If a property is just listed on the market the bank will likely not respond to those offers of twenty or thirty per cent of the asking price. The only time they might even look at such an offer is if they have been sitting on the property for six to nine months or longer. If you find a good property just listed at a good price, you might end up in a multiple offer situation in which case you might need to make an offer over the listing price.
If the property is worth it, pay the price for it. If it’s new on the market stay within ten per cent of the asking price if you want the home. If you purely want a “fish tale”, look for a home that has been on the market for twelve months or longer. That’s the only type of that is likely to respond to even drastically reduce offers.
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