Foreclosure Buying Tips                            

I can help you find great deals on foreclosed homes in Las Vegas. 

If you are an investor or homebuyer who wants to purchase a foreclosure, there has never been a better time to purchase real estate that is bank owned. 

 It is very common for Las Vegas foreclosures to generate multiple offers.  In some cases the bank will throw out all but two final offers and then ask the selected buyers to resubmit what is called “the highest and final” offer; or, they may accept the best offer at the start of the process.  

With this in mind, I have provided some tips to help you make a decision in purchasing a foreclosure property in Las Vegas.

Tips to Purchasing a Foreclosure
 

Identify Property or Home
I can work with you to identify the right property or home or you can Search our MLS Listings, which feature a section of Foreclosures.

Get Title Research
Once the right Las Vegas property has been located, your agent will do a thorough Title Search on the property that you have identified.  This is to ensure there are no liens on the property that have not been cleared prior to the completed transaction.

Negotiate
Be prepared to negotiate a lower down payment, reduced interest rate, lower asking price and/or even a reduction in closing costs.  Many lenders may be willing to waive some of the closing costs or offer a reduction on the down payment or interest rate.

Making the Offer
Most banks today have a lot of inventory (bank owned homes) they want to sell, but the final price is impacted by the number of offers, the amount of inventory owned by the bank, the location and condition of the property and other intangibles. Experience has taught us, even if the listing agent at the bank has indicated the list price is firm, there may be room to negotiate on your behalf.  Your agent is trained and prepared to negotiate for you.

Financing
It is critical to make sure your financing is in place prior to making an offer.  If not, you may have very little chance of buying a Las Vegas foreclosure.  If you have good credit many banks will loan the full price; although, this can vary by individual bank.  Some banks may only require a 10% down payment.  If you are a foreclosure investor with a large amount of equity in another home, you may be able to arrange a substantial line of credit.

Research Property History Carefully
Let your Realty Executives agent help you obtain the bank’s purchase price via the Trustee’s Deed.  The amount can be generally found on the document itself, which can be obtained from the County Recorder’s Office or a Title Company.  Review the amount of the loans that were once used to secure the property – in many cases the winning bid will be between the original mortgage balance(s) and the actual Foreclosure sales price, assuming the home is priced below market.

Weigh Comparable Sales
Some listing agents are exclusive listing agents for REOs and handle just this type of transaction – they are always dealing in high volumes and usually apply the same pricing formula to all transactions.  Meaning, you can base an offer to a certain extent on past history reflected in previous transactions to give us an edge versus other offers.

Have a Pre-approval Letter
Putting an offer on a foreclosure is often a very competitive process, we recommend you have a pre-approval letter in hand from your lender. You may also want to get pre-approved with the bank that owns the property, as banks don’t always trust other lenders and you can submit both preapproval letters simultaneously, to give more weight to your offer.

Understand the Number of Offers
No other offers means you can probably offer less than list price, multiple offers means you need to be above the asking price.  If more than ten offers, some may be all cash, which in most cases is preferred by Banks.  If you are using financing, you may need to increase your price to be competitive with cash offers.

Reduce Inspection Period
If competing buyers have asked for 21 days for inspection and you have asked for 10 you will, in most cases, be perceived as having a better offer.

Repairs can act as a Roadblock
Banks will occasionally pay for repairs but may not agree to do so during the offer stage.  If problems arise during a home inspection, then renegotiate after your offer has been accepted.

Be Flexible on Fees
Offering to split fees may also help to elevate your offer versus others.