How to contact foreclosure property owners by mo123

With so many foreclosures in the market today, it is not difficult to find a property in foreclosure. As a former broker who specialized in short sales, I can tell you how I did it and how I became the number one Broker in California doing short sales. I also was the only Broker working directly with the Governor's office. It is a lot of work, but many homes sold for ridiculous prices.

I just read where Richard Carpenter's home sold for over two million dollars. I sold a house right next to his for $400,000. This was a short sale and I even negotiated for the owner to walk away with cash. It is lucrative for the Broker as usually they do both sides of the deal and is in control.

The commission is always less on a short sale as the bank is taking a loss, so it is important to know that in case you are trying to deal directly with the Real Estate Broker. As you can see there is no room to negotiate on the comminssion. The commission is set by the bank and that is usually set in gold.

The first step in contacting a foreclosure owner is to get a local title company to give you a list of all homes in foreclosure. This is free and they will give it freely when you promise that you will give them the title, when you purchase your home. You can also contact an escrow company and they will help also. Again, promise them the closing deal. If you plan to buy the home from the homeowner and you have the cash or really good credit then you can save a lot of money and the Broker's commission so it will be easy for you. If you need help trying to negotiate a short sale with a second and a third lien, then do not make the mistake and try it yourself. You need an experienced Broker who has done this many times in the past with success.

If you have the funds and the credit, you simply must write to the homeowner and offer to buy their home. You write a litter and make sure it looks simple and personal and make sure you type their name and address on the letter as to not to appear that it is a generic letter. Tell them that you have a buyer for their home. You will get tons of calls. If you are out of state get an 800 number so they can call you freely. List a phone number, do not list a pager or email as the only way to get hold of you. Once the call comes in, tell them that you need to see the home and wait till you talk one on one before you talk money or financing. If the owner wants to freely tell you about their home they can. The title report

will tell you the amount owed on the first lien, the bedrooms, baths, etc. So you will know the area and the dimensions of the home. Do a search on what the house is worth before you meet with the person. It is easy to do this, just contact your title officer and ask them for "comps" of homes sold in the neighborhood. It could be that the home is not worth what the bank wants and in that case a short sale is necessary.

If you have to do a short sale and their is a second or more lein, do not attempt this sale. If you decide to do a short sale with one lein holder, be prepared to be extremely nice to the bank. Even send them flowers and ask about their wife, their children and if they feel good today. If they tell you, "My birthday is tomorrow." Send them a gift in the mail or flowers and candy. It works every single time.

When you are talking to the bank, do not tell them you have money and are the richest person in the world. Tell them no more than you have to. When the bank visits the home to set the value, tell the owner to not have the home very tidy. Don't do the dishes, have dirty clothes everywhere and just a general mess. If the house looks great, the bank wants more. Don't worry about the bank as they made thousands of dollars in interest on the homeowner. If the bank has made a lot of money in interest on the loan they will be more cooperative.

As you can see, it is a very technical process and one I would not go into lightly. Study up as much as you can and do what you can and then if all else fails, you can contact a Broker to finish the paperwork for less money. Brokers are hungry these days so there will be someone just to do the paperwork.

Make sure the bank gives you a Home owner's Warranty on the home as normally in foreclosures, the home has been neglected. Working with the homeowner directly is easier than to buy a foreclosed home on the steps of the courthouse. Because,then you have to evict the owner from his home and many, many homeowners have stayed for months and month in protest or damaged the home before leaving.

How to contact foreclosure property owners

by Barbi Trejo