The community of Bent Tree in Jasper, Georgia, has been fortunate to escape an abundance of foreclosures on the market over the past couple of years.  Tax lien sales have been a far more frequent issue (and a means of obtaining Bent Tree property for below market value) than distress sales . . . usually on building or membership lots for which owners no longer wantedto pay HOA fees and taxes. We have to go back to 2005 to find any REO listing sales.  Those three however, presented quite a bargain on Bent Tree homes for some lucky buyers.  Two sold at discounts from 66% to 72% off list price, while a third -- a brand new lakefront home -- sold at a price well below market for all it had to offer.

However, as we move into 2008, bank foreclosures on Bent Tree homes are appearing once more.  Three Bent Tree homes are currently listed in real estate as bank-owned REO properties and, based on notices of upcoming sale of properties on the Pickens County courthouse steps, there appear to be more to follow.

There are three homes currently listed for sale, with at least one more already foreclosed on, but not yet listed in real estate. The houses available already offer something of a discount off the original loan amount, ranging from $90,000 to $150,000 less than the amount owed to the bank!  All three (or four) are fairly new, having been built since 2000, and fall in the $300,000 to $400,000 price range.

One of the the homes is to auctioned at a live (versus online) auction in the next couple of weeks, offering the potential for an even greater bargain, whether for a potential homebuyer or an investor.  More are likely to follow.

To this point, there don't seem to be any Bent Tree lots or land parcels in foreclosure, and I don't expect to see too many, if any, suffering this fate.  (Again tax lien sales, often voluntary, are far more likely.)

While it is troubling to see this growth of foreclosure homes in Bent Tree once more, this post is not meant to sound alarmist. Three properties out of a total of 81 houses (3.7%) available for sale isn't a crisis, however, it is higher than the county average, and much higher than in its sister community of Big Canoe; particularly when the upcoming listings are added.  It is something worth monitoring as the effects of the past ease of financing on higher-priced (and sometimes overpriced) homes starts to take its toll.

Feel free to contact me for details on these Bent Tree foreclosures or REO auctions (as well as other Jasper / Pickens County, Georgia, bank-owned homes and land), by email, text, phone or by commenting below (be sure to include contact info when commenting!)