The latest news from REIF comes on the heels of their recent successful launch of their acclaimed online foreclosure tracking platform, a state of the art website which tracks and provides real-time updates on properties in foreclosure exclusively to REIF clients.  In today’s announcement REIF implemented a pricing policy that instead of charging buyers the customary 3% commission, REIF has decided to drastically cut that cost by only charging a low flat fee that is based on the county in which the property was purchased.  The new price their clients will pay when they purchase a foreclosure auction property is $3,500 in King county, $3,000 in Snohomish and an astonishing $1,500 for all foreclosure auction purchases in Pierce county.  

REIF is the first and only full service foreclosure auction group in Washington to adopt the flat fee pricing model for their clients.  Savings for a buyer on a typical $350,000 foreclosure auction purchase in King county would equal $7,000 by paying REIF’s flat fee verses paying the typical 3% commission still being charged by REIF’s competitors.

Those interested in learning more about the services REIF provides their clients are encouraged to attend one of their free weekly foreclosure buying workshops held every Tuesday evening at 5:30 pm at their downtown Redmond office.

If you are a homeowner that is facing foreclosure or you are behind on your mortgage payments and are concerned where to turn, there are three workshops scheduled in the coming days from Everett to Tacoma sponsered by local government agencies and nonprofit groups.

At the workshops, homeowners can learn about possible refinancing options and loan modifications that may be available to them.  These services are all provided free of charge to homeowners.

Below is a list of locations and dates for the workshops:

Those attending the workshop should come prepared with photo I.D., Social Security number, monthly mortgage statements, copies of loan closing documents, recent pay stubs and bank statements and their last two years tax returns.

For more information on any of the workshops you can contact the Urban League at 800-368-1455. 

Investors, flush with cash to spend are flocking to pick up newer built homes in the lower prices neighborhoods popular with first time home-buyers and those with families.    Prices on these foreclosed properties are in many cases over 50% less than their peak prices of 2006 and 2007.

With all the attention being paid to these foreclosures, many first-time home buyers in these markets are finding it hard to compete and are making offer after offer in an attemp to land their first home.

While the Seattle foreclosure market has not had the sheer numbers that other major markets have had in terms of total foreclosures and existing inventory, it is still a lucrative market for both investors and those looking for a terrific deal on their next home.  Most of the properties sold to a third party at the foreclosure auction recently have been sold in the range of 65-75 cents on the dollar of todays already discounted prices.  For investors, it is now common to see several homes available each week at the foreclosure auction that would be cash flow neutral or slightly cash flow postive with a 20% down payment from the buyer and typical financing terms for the balance.  Two years ago, that was virtually unheard of in King County.  Now is the time to strike if you are looking to pick up a great investment property or personal residence drastically under market value.

To read the full story follow this link.

You don’t have to be signed to a Major Leage contract however to be able to pick up a bargain property that is in foreclosure.  If you are looking to save 20-50% on the purchase of your next home or investment property then sign up to attend a free workshop presented by Real Estate Investment Firm in Redmond, Washington.

Jared brings over 12 years of Real Estate experience to Real Estate Investment Firm. He has been a licensed agent for 10 years with a primary focus of consulting clients and investors on the purchase of distressed real estate via the foreclosure process. Jared has been a part of more than 1000 foreclosure transactions since starting his career in real estate.

In 1997 Jared joined a team that was pioneering foreclosure investing in Washington State. Leading the way in the tracking and gathering of the necessary information about each property in foreclosure, Jared has become very knowledgeable in property title history, lien analysis, current market values and trends, and the unique live competitive bidding process at auction. These qualities, along with his unwavering commitment to his client’s success help to guide them and give them the edge needed to become successful bidders at auction.

Jared will be an amazing asset for our team. Our Thursday night investor meetings provide you with an excellent opportunity for you to meet Jared and to start taking advantage of his expertise.

The website, buyWAforeclosures.com, also provides clients with detailed property information, photographs, property condition reports, lien and judgement reports as well as direct to property links to various county and 3rd party web sites such as zillow.com and google maps.

Access to the site is restricted to members or clients of Real Estate Investment Firm.  For information on becoming a member please visit Real Estate Investment Firm and register to attend one of their weekly foreclosure training workshops on how to buy foreclosures.  At the conclusion of the workshop attendees will be given a username and password to access the site.  Worshops are held every Tuesday at 5:30pm in their downtown Redmond, WA office.

We hear that question quite a bit around our office.  Usually it comes up on Tuesday during our weekly workshop for new clients & investors on “How to buy foreclosure auction homes, short sales and bank owned/REO’s”.

The answer is most definitely YES!  With accurate property research and due diligence combined with a keen knowledge of current market conditions and throw in a little luck for good measure you can make consistant and sizeable profits time and time again. 

Below are the details on a recent foreclosure auction purchase made by an investor working with Real Estate Investment Firm, LLC. 

Rosario Place, Renton WA

REIF foreclosure purchase

This property was purchased on March 27th 2009 at the King County Foreclosure Auctionfor $1.00 over the lenders opening bid of $364,650.00.  When this property was reviewed in our Auction Investor Meeting the night before, the REIF Auction Specialist told the group that a cash buyer could purchase and flip this property in under 90 days and make a net pre-tax profit of approximately $40,000.00.  In the end it only took 67 days from the purchase date until escrow closed on the re-sale.  When all the costs for acquisition, fix-up, holding and re-sale were calculated, the net profit to our client was $39,463.00  Below is a breakdown of those figures and a chart that shows the ROI (return on investment) for this transaction.

If we extrapolate this data out to a 12 month time-frame, it would roughly work out to an anual net income before taxes of $240,000.00.  Keep in mind as well that the investor who bought this house only spent approximately 30-40 hours of his time working on the property. 

If you would like to learn how you can help secure your financial future by investing in foreclosures and distressed real estate then I encourage you to attend one of our free foreclosure investing workshops.  They are held every Tuesday at 5:30 pm at our downtown Redmond office

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Buying or investing in properties that are in the foreclosure process is your wealth building opportunity!

Did you know that NOW is the best time to invest in foreclosure properties?

Many people are interested in investing in properties that are in the foreclosure process, but are unsure of the steps to take to get started. 

 The market conditions of today have converged to create a “Perfect Storm” of opportunity for the savvy real estate buyer or investor.  The opportunity is there to purchase your next property at discounts of 20-50% under today’s market value.  Never again will the same market conditions exist that precipitated our current liquidity crisis, stock market crash and subprime mortgage meltdown.  The opportunity to take advantage of this unprecidented market is now!  If you are qualified, committed and motivated we will provide you with an inventory of efficient and profitable assets to meet your short and long term financial objectives.

Come and learn how to “Never Pay Retail” again and purchase real estate at 50-80 cents on the Dollar!

Some of what we will cover in the workshop

• The foreclosure process and timeline
• Recent sales data and market statistics for the region
• Foreclosure trends and market analysis
• Lien priority in Washington State
• Investment Strategies to maximize your return on investment (ROI)
• The importance of establishing an exit strategy before you buy!

  

Shannon Bennet picks through the site in Victorville, Calif., where homes were demolished rather than completed and sold. © Nick Ut/Associated Press

Guaranty Bank recently foreclosed on 16 new and partially built homes in Victorville CA, a town 85 miles northeast of Los Angeles.  Four of the homes were substantially completed and the other twelve were 50% completed or less.

Guaranty Bank, whose parent company, Guarantee Financial Group was recently issued a “cease and desist” order by the Federal Office of Thrift Supervision decided it was cheaper to just destroy the homes rather than complete and re-sell them.  Home prices in San Bernadino County where the development was located have fallen 60% from their peak in 2006, according to the firm DataQuick.

Click here for the link to the Times web site and the story.

Much of the increase is attributed to lenders lifting temporary moratoriums and resuming legal actions against delinquent mortgage holders.

To read the full article click here

Locally, the total number of properties in some stage of foreclosure has been steadily increasing the past several months.  Currently in King, Snohomish & Pierce county there are a total of 7,877 homes in foreclosure.

 To learn more about Fannie Mae’s new guidlines you can contact Shane Pierard with Cobalt Mortgage.

There were a total of 539 properties scheduled for foreclosure auction during December.  Two thirds were canceled sales, almost a third reverted back to the lender, and just under five percent were purchased by a third party.

If you are interested in buying foreclosures or other distressed property anywhere in King, Snohomish, Pierce or Kitsap counties you are invited to atttent one of our weekly investor workshops on “How to buy foreclosures“.  This workshop is held every Tuesday at 5:30 pm at our Redmond office.  Seating is limited please reserve your spot today!

Will these never before seen interest rates prompt buyers back into buying again or will they sit on the sideline in hopes of obtaining the rumored 4.5% government subsidized rate when the new Obama administration takes office. 

Below is a chart obtained from MSN Money detailing available rates, fees & points available in the greater Seattle-Tacoma area.

Loans shown are 30-yr. fixed conforming loans available in Seattle-Tacoma, Washington.

photo credit: respres

 With rates this low, anyone looking to purchase a primary residence or investment property definitely needs to look to the foreclosure auction and short sales or REO/bank owned properties to get twice the financial benefits.  By buying a distressed property you can pick up a new home at discounts of 20-45% under today’s market value.  Combine that with never before seen low interest rates and you can increase your buying power dramatically.

The end result is that approximately up to 10,000 homeowners will have their foreclosure stalled for a few weeks in order to allow time to work out modifications with them.  For those homeowners, this is certainly good news, especially considering the upcoming holiday season.

Many of the people I spoke to were surprised to learn that so few homeowners would be affected by the announcement.  The reason is simple however, the majority of homeowners in foreclosure took out loans that Fannie and Freddie would never dream of purchasing.  They were the no income, no asset, no credit check loans that are the root cause to our current financial market’s collapse.

And no amount of bailout or releif programs are going to be able to help most of those borrowers.  When they couldn’t verify income or assets in the first place, it is highly unlikely they will suddenly be able to now, and one of the major tenants of all of the announced releif programs are that the borrowers must show they are able to qualify for the new loan terms.