I made my 10th career appearance to a Canadian foreclosure court proceeding to defend an accepted offer for a buyer, the first nine hearings being rather routine with no serious bidding competition. The listing agent, the night before, confirmed that there had been no other declared interest but had handed out a couple of Schedule A's to other Realtors. (A Schedule A is an Addendum that the Lawyer representing the Lender insists be attached to the contract of Purchase & Sale. It spells out the terms and conditions under which the lender is willing to accept offers. It supersedes many clauses in the standard Board contracts and limits the Banks obligations and makes clear that it is being trully sold AS IS)
I arrived early at Vancouver Provincial Courts to find that there were only two actual accepted offers being presented to the Master (like a judge) this day. When I made my way up the the courtroom level waiting area I was stunned to see a room full of Realtors with their clients, all furiously filling sealed envelopes with competitive bids. Yikes! My heart rate went up considerably as I mentally calculated the hours of invested time and energy getting my Buyer to this point only to potentially lose it to the best Sealed Bid process before the Master.
As luck would have it my heart attack was for not, the 7 other Realtors were all there for the other foreclosed upon property. My Buyer came in unopposed and picked up the property, an apartment condo, for $177,000. The previously lowest price sale in the building was for $205,000 just last Fall. Although all the appliances are not guaranteed on possession day, I am confident that they will be there as all the locks have been changed and the previous owner has disappeared from the scene and has been for some time.
Don't let the process of Foreclosure proceedings intimidate you, foreclosed upon properties can be a great purchase for a first time Buyer or investor. Although I have never listed a foreclosure I have been a Buyers Agent and bought a few myself in the 90's so the process is quite familiar to me. Foreclosures can be a great buy for a First Time Buyer or an Investor, not always, but very often.
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