There were pitfalls on the the way, but an L.A. Times reporter found that research, strategy and being free of loan baggage helped.
By Peter Y. Hong November 9, 2008
I did not set out to buy a foreclosed house. ¶ Earlier this year, I wrote about selling my condominium unit in 2005 to rent, rejecting the hyped promise of an always-rising real estate market. Now I’ve purchased a foreclosed home — but that doesn’t mean I’ve bought into the new wave of hype in real estate, the idea that cheap, repossessed houses are a sure bet. ¶ There’s usually good reason many foreclosed houses languish with no buyers. They may be badly damaged or situated in places that seemed attractive only in the frenzy of a real estate bubble. ¶ The foreclosure inventory is loaded with properties far from job centers, stripped or even vandalized by previous owners or in abandoned developments with no parks, schools or even neighbors nearby. ¶ As a result, finding a decent house amid the wreckage of the real estate crash can be a long, tedious process. Then, actually buying one can also be tricky. When a foreclosed house in good shape and in a desirable location gets to market, it often attracts multiple offers, even in this struggling real estate market.
But a foreclosed house might still be an easier way to get what you want than trying to get stubborn individual sellers to lower their list prices. In both my day job covering the housing market and my own search for a house, I’ve seen what has worked for many buyers of foreclosed homes.
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When we began looking for a place early this year, though, the prices set by individuals on their homes seemed ridiculous in light of the market crash. And sellers wouldn’t budge, even when they got no offers.
But there’s hardly a more motivated home seller than a bank trying to unload a house it had to take over when its owner defaulted on the mortgage. So it seemed as if foreclosed properties might be the best if not the only choice for us. There were plenty of them out there: Half the homes sold in Southern California in September had been foreclosed, and they will probably make up the majority of homes sold in the region for at least the near future.
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