For the almost a decade, you have been living in an apartment. Over the years, you have collected furniture pieces, knick knacks, and other home accents to attempt to rejuvenate or recreate your home to make it look and feel warmer. Sadly, no matter what you did, you couldn’t get the warm feeling you wanted to feel when you crossed the threshold. The other thing that you have tolerated was the lack of character in your home. Each of the apartment spaces looks exactly like the next, with the exception of your furniture and décor. With the landlord dictating what can and cannot be used to decorate your apartment, it was simply stifling your creativity, making you feel more like a prisoner than a resident of your own home.
Of course there are some perks such as twenty four hour repairs and no lawn maintenance, but you can’t individualize your home as much as you could in a house or condominium. After selecting Cherry Hill as your soon to be new home city, you start to search for a Cherry Hill real estate agent that knows how to listen to your needs and wants as well as fulfill them. Upon your first meeting, after hearing about your desire to individualize your home giving it the character you desire, they suggest looking over some of the foreclosed upon properties in the area. If this is the type of home you are looking for, South Jersey Real Estate are the perfect Cherry Hill real estate agents to help you make your dream come true.
Benefits of Purchasing a Foreclosed Property with a New Jersey Realtor
Sometimes, when you hear the words “foreclosed property” you think that these are the types of houses that if you purchase it will become a money pit where you dump tons of cash into repairs and rehabilitation of the property. The truth is that while yes, some properties do require some work an equal number of them are just as move in ready as those on the market.
Why own a foreclosed property? There are several reasons to do so. The first is one of the most beneficial. In 2009, several homeowners defaulted on their mortgages due to fraudulent information that the banks provided on their loans. Because of this, a lot of newer homes ended up defaulting back to the bank. Banks don’t want to keep these properties, so they will put these properties up at a lower price than the market’s prices on a similar home. Depending on the number of properties that a bank has in its inventory, they may negotiate to loan you money to put towards the purchase of the home. Some loans have covered 100% of the property costs. Getting a free house is pretty neat, huh?
With the help of a qualified home inspector (we recommend that all new homeowners do this in any real estate transaction), you could buy a move in ready property at fraction of the price. Because you are working with a bank, you won’t have to be hassled by the former occupants of the property. Sometimes, there will be instances where a seller will remove their property from the market because they’re too sentimentally attached to the property or other owner related issues.
How to Purchase a Foreclosed Property with Help from a Cherry Hill Realtor
After reading all this, you’ve decided to look into how the entire foreclosed property process works. Just like the credit card company, the bank will send a reminder to the current homeowners that their mortgage payment is due. After a couple more attempts to contact them, the bank will begin the foreclosure process. This procedure is a three step procedure. During the first step, the newly foreclosed property is put on the market to compete with other properties that have individual sellers. This is often called the first phase of default.
The second step is the auction phase. There are several steps that you should consider before attending an auction. One of the first steps is the most important. Learn what some of the jargon used in auctions. There are usually two types of auctions that are held; an absolute auction, where bidding is open and the high bidder wins the property. The second auction is more beneficial to the seller; the reserve auction. This is where one of the seller has a set price in mind. If the piece is sold somewhere near the reserve, they may offer it to the highest bidder.
Just like shopping for a car or any other small item, you want to set your base price. Look your property up on a website that will tell you its current market price. Take a look at the property, utilizing a home inspector. Be sure to get any repair work listed along with the costs on a list. That way when you do bid on a property, you can add the repairs to your bid. Don’t go alone: bring on of our Cherry Hill realtors with you to help you get through the process. Most importantly, stay calm. It is really easy to get swept up in the action of an auction, so if your base price is met or over your limit, walk away.
One last piece of advice for attending a foreclosure auction: be sure to select more than one property. That way if your property gets purchased by one of the other bidders, you don’t have to worry about being out of luck.
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