Big Bear Lakefront REO property turns into great buy .

Originally posted on the Big Bear REO Blog. 

Everyone is hearing about how great of a deal a bank owned property can be.  There is a misconception that these REOs are all run down, neglected properties.  Well this isn't always the case.  In fact sometimes a great property is foreclosed on and becomes available as a bank owned. 

This lakefront property in Big Bear Lake is one of those unique properties.  This home went into foreclosure and came on the market as an REO during the summer of 2007.  The bank first priced the property at $1.825 Million which was close to the price of the last sale on the property back in Summer 2004.  While this was probably a little high,  it wasn't as outrageous as it might seem.  Prices have came down in Big Bear but as everyone knows Real Estate is all about location, location, location.  You can't get a much better location than on Big Bear Lake. 

Even though the home was priced under the last sale, the property remained on the market.  After a couple of price reductions the lake front was reduced to a price, $1.55 million, that brought in offers.  It is rather amazing that this property lasted as long as it did.  All in all it was on the market for 112 days as a bank owned.

Now that the property has closed escrow we can evaluate the type of "deal" the new owners received. 

Last Sale Price and Date                         $1,900,000  9-02-04

New Sale Price and Date                        $1,420,000  12-28-07

Difference in price between sales   $480,000 or a little over 25%

What this means

Considering the market in 2004 was much better than todays, the savings may be a little inflated.  Still the ability to sell the property at a much lower price , almost half a million lower in this case, comes directly from the property being an REO. 

It might be a lot of work to sift thru all these bank owned properties flooding the market, but with a little time and patience you can find a great buy.  The important thing is to to be ready when these unique bank owned properties show up on the market.  Otherwise some other savvy buyer will beat you to it.  For a complete list of Big Bear Bank Owned properties feel free to contact us.