How to find Foreclosures without Paying Fees

**Jon Porrey** · 11-08-2011, 11:17 AM

Finding foreclosures is fairly easy in depressed markets, but it's also simple to find foreclosures in strong real estate markets. The difference between the two markets is you will find a greater number of foreclosures in fading real estate markets.

Many pre-foreclosure homes that were once offered as short sales end up as foreclosures, which are eventually deeded to the bank. The reason why purchasers may refuse to buy a short sale home could be any of the following:

· Sellers stripped foreclosure home's assets and / or vandalized the property.
· Bank refused to accept less than its present mortgage balance.

· Buyers passed by the short sale in favor of a hassle-free purchase.

· Location of the home and / or neighborhood was undesirable.

· Listing was overpriced at mortgaged amount.

· Seller did not qualify for a short stile.

Not every foreclosure is a great bargain and some can morph into unexpected nightmares. There are drawbacks to buying foreclosures. Some foreclosed homes are diamonds waiting to be polished. Inexperienced foreclosure buyers might want to hire a real estate agent for guidance and assistance.

Here are Places you can FIND Foreclosures:
Real Estate Agents

In your Community there are top selling agents who specialize in listing foreclosures. Knowing how to find that person is the key. You need to enter the search values in MLS to bring up all the foreclosures. Consumers do not enjoy direct access to MLS like agents.

You can ask your buyer's agent to search for REOs and when you recognize a listing agent's name over and over, pull up that agent's profile and look at his or her listings. You will probably find a ton of foreclosures at your fingertips this way.

Real Estate Signs

Driving through neighborhoods where you want to buy is another great way to find foreclosures. The riders on the sign posts might say:

· Foreclosure

· Bank-Owned

· Bank Repo

Call the agent's whose name is on the sign and inquire about other foreclosure listings that may be coming on the market. Agents who specialize in foreclosures sometimes wait weeks while bank management approves the list price, so you can get a jump on other buyers by asking about new foreclosures not yet listed.

If you are working with a buyer's agent, you can ask your agent to get this information for you.

Major bank Web sites

Many banks maintain online lists of foreclosed properties. Here are a few national lenders who maintain Web sites of bank-owned properties:

· Countrywide
• Bank of America

· Chase Mortqage

• U S Bank

Asset Management Companies

Some lenders hire an asset management company to handle foreclosures on the lender's behalf.

· Wells Fargo uses Premiere Asset Services.

· Many subprime mortgage companies use HomeEq Servicing

· Keystone Asset Management is a national agency that deals with defaults.

Government Agencies

Some government agencies require you to retain the services of a real estate broker to make an offer to purchase. Others will let you submit offers on your own. Read each site for more information.

· HUD - Housing Urban Development foreclosure homes.

· Fannie Mae foreclosure homes.

· Department of the Treasury - homes seized by the Internal Revenue Service.

• SBA - Small Business Association , Auction Houses

Auction companies hold huge auctions, sometimes selling as many as 100 homes or more in a single day. While many experts agree that auction companies often get higher prices due to the auction frenzy created among its bidders, sometimes you can find a gem in their inventory.

· Real Estate Disposition Corporation

· J_P- King

· United Country Auction Services

· William's & William's

· Bid4Assets

Internet Foreclosure Companies

Web-based foreclosure companies charge a fee for providing you with a list of foreclosure properties. They reason that it takes time, trouble and expertise to locate and assemble accurate national foreclosure lists. You may find it is worth it to let these companies search for you: RealtyTrac.com and Foreclosure.com

HOW about this for a Tip:
If you're in the market to buy a foreclosured house despite all the hassles and long waits associated with buying one, here's a way to find properties in your area that are either in pre-foreclosure or are already owned by a bank.
· Here are the basic steps.
· 1. Enter an address at Google maps.
· 2. Click on the "More" tab in the top right corner of the map. 3. Select "Real Estate" in the drop-down menu.
· 4. On the left side of the page, uncheck "For sale" and check "Foreclosure."
· The little red dots that then appear on the map are foreclosures that are still on the market. At least in my area, the red dots just seem to be on the blocks where foreclosures are located, with no identifying address information besides the street and links to sites offering more information about the properties with a short-free trial and then for a fee. (The ads on the left side of the page, however, do give the addresses for some of the properties.)
· Still, it's a good starting point for knowing if there are foreclosures in the area you want to buy in. (You could ask your Realtor to determine where the properties are.) The red dots also indicate how widespread the foreclosure problem is in a particular neighborhood.

**jumpingspidermedia** · 11-08-2011, 05:06 PM

A starting point would be where some of the MLS search sites have search filters that includes foreclosure properties. Additionally, there depending on the state, there are FREE websites that allow you to search through the HUD listings.

The information is out there, and no, its not as easy as some of you might want it to be - but if you are savy enough on the computer, you can do enough homework to have pretty good idea of whats available!

**Danbeer** · 01-03-2012, 03:15 PM

It is quite near impossible to gain Bank assets without incurring any fee's.. Unless The Bank has decided to sell it "as is" There is no way that you cant and wont be coming out of pocket.. How do you sell a home with no water or electricity? Unless you are dealing with stricly investors and are double ending each deal with your clients knowing that they are going to put a tremendous amount of effort and or money into the project, I dont see any other way around it..

**Carla Hailey** · 01-12-2012, 07:33 AM

Newspaper ads, and by contacting a lender on the phone are few good ways I know to find properties in foreclosure.

**kumarpuneet** · 04-24-2012, 05:40 AM

Like the folks said-- With legal information everything is easy to get information. It's all no price. Theres so much you can do and find out out. You will see out exactly what it is you need or want to know about. I think its easier if you have a broker helping you if you're not sure how to start. Usually the lending company will pay the fee to the broker not you.

**willjohn** · 05-23-2012, 05:57 AM

Originally Posted by Jon Porrey

Finding foreclosures is fairly easy in depressed markets, but it's also simple to find foreclosures in strong real estate markets. The difference between the two markets is you will find a greater number of foreclosures in fading real estate markets.

Many pre-foreclosure homes that were once offered as short sales end up as foreclosures, which are eventually deeded to the bank. The reason why purchasers may refuse to buy a short sale home could be any of the following:

· Sellers stripped foreclosure home's assets and / or vandalized the property.
· Bank refused to accept less than its present mortgage balance.

· Buyers passed by the short sale in favor of a hassle-free purchase.

· Location of the home and / or neighborhood was undesirable.

· Listing was overpriced at mortgaged amount.

· Seller did not qualify for a short stile.

Not every foreclosure is a great bargain and some can morph into unexpected nightmares. There are drawbacks to buying foreclosures. Some foreclosed homes are diamonds waiting to be polished. Inexperienced foreclosure buyers might want to hire a real estate agent for guidance and assistance.

Here are Places you can FIND Foreclosures:
Real Estate Agents

In your Community there are top selling agents who specialize in listing foreclosures. Knowing how to find that person is the key. You need to enter the search values in MLS to bring up all the foreclosures. Consumers do not enjoy direct access to MLS like agents.

You can ask your buyer's agent to search for REOs and when you recognize a listing agent's name over and over, pull up that agent's profile and look at his or her listings. You will probably find a ton of foreclosures at your fingertips this way.

Real Estate Signs

Driving through neighborhoods where you want to buy is another great way to find foreclosures. The riders on the sign posts might say:

· Foreclosure

· Bank-Owned

· Bank Repo

Call the agent's whose name is on the sign and inquire about other foreclosure listings that may be coming on the market. Agents who specialize in foreclosures sometimes wait weeks while bank management approves the list price, so you can get a jump on other buyers by asking about new foreclosures not yet listed.

If you are working with a buyer's agent, you can ask your agent to get this information for you.

Major bank Web sites

Many banks maintain online lists of foreclosed properties. Here are a few national lenders who maintain Web sites of bank-owned properties:

· Countrywide
• Bank of America

· Chase Mortqage

• U S Bank

Asset Management Companies

Some lenders hire an asset management company to handle foreclosures on the lender's behalf.

· Wells Fargo uses Premiere Asset Services.

· Many subprime mortgage companies use HomeEq Servicing

· Keystone Asset Management is a national agency that deals with defaults.

Government Agencies

Some government agencies require you to retain the services of a real estate broker to make an offer to purchase. Others will let you submit offers on your own. Read each site for more information.

· HUD - Housing Urban Development foreclosure homes.

· Fannie Mae foreclosure homes.

· Department of the Treasury - homes seized by the Internal Revenue Service.

• SBA - Small Business Association , Auction Houses

Auction companies hold huge auctions, sometimes selling as many as 100 homes or more in a single day. While many experts agree that auction companies often get higher prices due to the auction frenzy created among its bidders, sometimes you can find a gem in their inventory.

· Real Estate Disposition Corporation

· J_P- King

· United Country Auction Services

· William's & William's

· Bid4Assets

Internet Foreclosure Companies

Web-based foreclosure companies charge a fee for providing you with a list of foreclosure properties. They reason that it takes time, trouble and expertise to locate and assemble accurate national foreclosure lists. You may find it is worth it to let these companies search for you: RealtyTrac.com and Foreclosure.com

HOW about this for a Tip:
If you're in the market to buy a foreclosured house despite all the hassles and long waits associated with buying one, here's a way to find properties in your area that are either in pre-foreclosure or are already owned by a bank.
· Here are the basic steps.
· 1. Enter an address at Google maps.
· 2. Click on the "More" tab in the top right corner of the map. 3. Select "Real Estate" in the drop-down menu.
· 4. On the left side of the page, uncheck "For sale" and check "Foreclosure."
· The little red dots that then appear on the map are foreclosures that are still on the market. At least in my area, the red dots just seem to be on the blocks where foreclosures are located, with no identifying address information besides the street and links to sites offering more information about the properties with a short-free trial and then for a fee. (The ads on the left side of the page, however, do give the addresses for some of the properties.)
· Still, it's a good starting point for knowing if there are foreclosures in the area you want to buy in. (You could ask your Realtor to determine where the properties are.) The red dots also indicate how widespread the foreclosure problem is in a particular neighborhood.

This is interesting and informative blog.