Foreclosures from Yahoo! Real Estate
Posted by ML on November 17th, 2006
I just discovered that you can search for foreclosures in addition to regular MLS listings on Yahoo! Real Estate. It was completely new to me.
For example, in my zip code, when searching for a 3+/2+ single house, I got 44 MLS listings between $350k and $450k. Checking for foreclosures, I got 6 entries, all entered on Oct. 11-12. Half of the entries had auction dates prior to October so I suspect the foreclosure feature wasn’t available till then or it wouldn’t be very useful. Looking at other zip codes, I found houses in all stages of the foreclosure process, from “notice of default” to “foreclosure sale”.
Each of the 6 foreclosures has an associated price that varies wildly from $129k to $423k. Further investigation indicates they are merely “estimated bid amounts”. The “More information” button leads to RealtyTrac which offers a 7-day free trial. The membership gets you the standard property information plus detailed loan information including the default amount, the last payment and the name of the owner (see the screen shot below).
Not knowing much about the foreclosure process I’m not sure if the average home buyer can really take advantage of this information (Would someone at the NOD stage be a “motivated” seller? More likely they are in default in the first place because they are “under water” on the mortgage.) On the other hand, the number of foreclosures is an indication of the health of the local housing market (e.g. 305 listings in Sarasota, FL).
If you know more about foreclosures or how to take advantage of this information please leave a comment. TIA.
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November 18th, 2006 at 10:08 pm
Here’s what I know.
In my area, the county sheriff office website lists the sheriff sales (auctions) that are being planned. They also list the lending organization and a lawyer to contact. The listing shows the appraised price and minimum bid.
With that information, one can do a number of things. Contact the home owner, contact the bank or go to the auction.
For reference, I have investigated foreclosures as a possible way to acquire real estate. However, I have not actually closed on a sale.
November 20th, 2006 at 4:06 pm
Super Saver,
Thanks for that info. I think foreclosures will be an important place to check for RE investors and regular buyers to check from this time on.
ML
January 30th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
In MA, there is much more foreclosures in 2006 than previous years. And due to market situation, it seems that there are less investors out there…
July 23rd, 2007 at 5:07 am
Interesting post, sad to say that the forclosure market is non existent in the UK at present.I suspect that this may change in the near future with the rise in base rate
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September 14th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
Interesting article, very informative.
September 21st, 2007 at 11:11 am
Good tools to use here no doubt.
February 7th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
I’ve heard that about 1% of properties in preforeclosure typically go into foreclosure. Does anybody have data showing what the actual percentages were for the LA area in say 1988, 1991,
1995 and 2000?