It has been well over a year since I've had buyer clients that didn't view at
least one foreclosure in Macomb County MI, for most it has been many
foreclosure properties before they decide on the home they wish to purchase.

You would think that by now after viewing hundreds of them and putting in more than 30 offers on these homes that I would have a handle on what the banks or asset managers are looking for when they receive an offer. Frankly, it gets more confusing as each month passes. There is no rhyme nor reason when dealing with the asset managers. Each foreclosure offer to
purchase brings a new set of rules, a new set of guidelines, and a new adventure.

I do however have a checklist of common items to be aware of when first viewing these homes:

Have $1000 readily available. I have yet to see a bank owned / foreclosure home that doesn't require a minimum $1000 good faith deposit. It doesn't matter if you are using a FHA or VA mortgage and have down payment assistance. There is no getting around the minimum good faith deposit requirement before the asset manager will even consider your offer.

Plan on putting utilities in your name for a short time after your offer is accepted. In order to have a thorough home inspection the utilities need to be on, and the banks / asset managers generally expect you to do that.

Multiple offers are the norm now. It is rare that a bank owned or foreclosure home will not have many offers coming in to them, oftentimes at over the asking price. Plan on competing with other buyers and structure your offer accordingly if you really want the home.

The best advice I could give? Have patience.

As of this writing, a buyer client and I are now on day 8 of a verbally accepted offer to purchase a
foreclosure home without signed seller documents returned.  The home inspection is on hold, the gas turn-on is on hold, as well as all processing.  Asset managers and the processers at the banks are
SWAMPED.  They have more on their desks than they can handle, and it takes time to get your
offer through the process.

If you have a deadline to purchase your new home and move a bank owned property probably will
not work for you. However, if you have a bit of time and the patience to wait for what could be weeks
for a response to your offer to purchase, and then another couple of weeks to actually get signed
documents back from the asset manager or bank then I'm sure you'll be happy with the outcome.


© Kris Wales - a Macomb County MI real estate agent


Search for homes in Macomb County with MLS provided data