Foreclosures are good!!!
Hang on!! I don’t mean that it is good for people to lose their home. I don’t mean that at all. When someone loses their home it is a tragedy. Whatever the reason that someone loses their home it is a bad thing for them but humans are resilient and hopefully we learn from the bad as well as the good experiences in life. Actually, I have learned much more from the bad things in my life and I suspect you have too. Those that have lost their homes due to bad decisions will hopefully make better decisions in the future. Not all lost homes are due to bad decisions. Sometimes it is a big life change event like loss of a job or a divorce. You can’t always predict that sort of thing and certainly we need to pray for folks in those situations. Stay with me though cause we are getting to the reason foreclosures are good.
They are great deals for buyers!! Investors, first time buyers and seasoned buyers looking for a deal. It also brings housing costs down even for great homes. Move in ready homes are at one of the best ‘affordability index’ values that we have had in over 20 years. As buyers realize the value that is available in this market they will get out there in force and buy. I am seeing an increase in showings for the price range below $200K which is traditionally the upper end of the first time home buyers for this market.
I also have seen some incredible deals forming up on bulk buying of foreclosures. I know of one investment team that is looking at purchasing 10 Fannie Mae homes for $100,000. That is $10,000 per house. This is best done by a seasoned investor with cash because you don’t get to pick out or even see the houses before you buy them but for $10,000 you get a house that should price out at least $40,000 each.
As we continue to use up the inventory that we have, the market will continiue to get better. New housing starts are still down but that is good so we don’t keep adding new inventory. It will correct itself as we ‘burn off’ the excess. The big billboard shows about 80,000 listings on the market and that is down over 20% from a year ago so it is getting better.
If you are thinking about buying please call me. This is the time and I can find you a great deal if you are ready. 3.5% down, some closing costs and a verifiable income will get you into a home if you have reasonable credit. Loans are available if you prove you can handle the responsibility and have a way to pay it back. Can we ask more than that??
Thanks for listening,
Jerry W. Robertson