First, ask them to only pull up repossessed homes (foreclosures). Then, out of those repossessed homes ask them to send you properties that meet one or more of these criteria:
1) Long Days on Market – Banks typically want to sell repossessed homes as soon as possible. If you can find a repossessed home that’s been on the market for a long time, then you have a better chance of getting a bargain on it.
2) No picture, No description – Most real estate buyers won’t even consider a home without a picture. If you can find a repossessed home listing with no/bad pictures and no/bad description, then most buyers will be scared away, and you’ll have a better chance of getting a bargain.
3) Wrong city name – If you live in a city with multiple variations on its name, then you should ask your agent to search for any repossessed homes listed under a less common variation of the name. For example, I live near a town called Thompsons Station. Other variations on this name are Thompson Station and Thompson’s Station. You may have hit gold if you can find a foreclosure listed under a less common name variation.
4) Condos and Duplexes – The markets for condos and duplexes are much smaller than single family homes, leading to less competition for the bargains.
5) Original List price vs. Current List Price – Most real estate agents have the ability to generate a list of properties where the current list price is much lower than the original list price. For example, you could ask an agent to only send you repossessed homes in which the current list price is $10,000 or $15,000 or $20,000 lower than the original list price. This list is extremely valuable because the bank has already shown they’re motivated to lower the price.
6) Fixer-upper Keywords – Most real estate agent should also be able to search for homes based on keywords in the description like “fixer-upper”, “needs work”, “needs tlc”, “handyman special”, etc. If a repossessed home needs repairs, most buyers won’t consider it, and banks rarely do repairs. So, homes in need of repairs are some of your best opportunities.
7) Previous Loan Amount vs. Market Value – The mostpowerful list you can have. (You can also use this list in conjunction with the strategies above.) Banks aren’t going to give a property away but are more likely to sell at a discount if they’re close to breaking even. Thus, you should try to find a list of repossessed homes where previous loan amount is less than or equal to the market value. Even Realtors don’t readily have access to this info, you will need to use a professional service to find this data.
Professional Repossessed Home Data – This link provides access to elusive, profitable information like previous loan amount vs. market value.
Erik Pearson is a real estate agent serving Franklin, Brentwood, and Spring Hill, TN and is the author of multiple articles covering a variety of real estate topics. Search Real Estate in Spring Hill, TN
