Because everyone is looking for a great deal but the only great deals out there are in the hands of the banks. Anyone who purchased a property from 2005 to 2006 is "upside" down, meaning that they owe more money than the property is worth, so they are unable to sell the property at today's prices without "writing a check t the bank" or negotiating a short sale.
A short sale is a transaction where the current lender of a property agrees to take less than what is owed on that property. At the conclusion of the deal, the former owner/seller sells the property and makes nothing and the bank ends up with less that it originally loaned. The bank "writes off" the loss and the seller may get hit with the loss at tax time (remember that the seller was forgiven a debt which can be considered income). Short sale are complicated and often takes months to conclude because frankly the bank isn't crazy about losing tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Therefor the bank requires a lot of evidence before it will agree to the deal. Nonetheless, for the VERY patient buyer a short sale can be a very good deal.
An easier way to go can be REO or bank owned properties. In these cases the bank has already foreclosed on the previous owner and now holds title to the property. Just as importantly the bank has a very good understanding of what the REAL value of the property is. In most cases the bank just wants to sell the property and is not interested in waiting months for a buyer to come along. Instead banks typically price the properties to sell relatively quickly which can mean a great deal for the buyer. But with great prices comes a lot of competition so don't be surprised if other buyers beat you to the table and buy a property out from under you. Also, don't be surprised if the bank tries to play two different buyers against one another. After all, the bank is trying to limit it's losses. So in the case of REP properties not only the early bird but also the most prepared bird gets the worm.
We not only know the scoop of what's going on at most of the buildings (yes there are some bad buildings out there) but we also know how to "package" you so that banks will like you more than other buyers giving you an edge over the "competition.".
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