Archive for the ‘Featured’ Category

The Seattle Times just published an article this morning on the bidding wars that are erupting between potential buyers for foreclosure and bank owned properties in several areas around the country.  Most of the frenzy is taking place in the hardest hit ares for foreclosures such as Phoenix, Las Vegas, Southern California and South Florida.

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.

Ryan Braun, the All-Star outfielder for the Milwaukee Brewers knows a good deal when he sees one.  Braun just closed escrow on a bank owned foreclosure property located in Malibu that was once listed during the peak real estate prices of 2007 for $8.9M.  Braun picked up the Mediteranian styled ocean view villa for the bargain basement price of $4.85M

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.

Real Estate Investment Firm is pleased to announce that Jared Higbee has joined our King County Foreclosure Auction team.

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.

Real Estate Investment Firm, LLC anounced Thursday July 2nd 2009 the launch of their new online platform for real-time status tracking of foreclosure auction or trustee sales sales in King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties. 

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.

“Can we really make money in this real estate market flipping houses?”

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

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.

Rosario Place Breakdow
Purchase Price	$364,651
Purchase Comm.	$10,940
Fix-up costs	$3,500
Total Purchase Cost	$379,091
Sale Price	$454,950
Sales Costs	$36,396
Net Sale Price	$418,554
Minus Purch Cost	$379,091
Net Profit	$39,463

Return on Investment Calculation
Amount Invested?:	$379,091.00
Start Date?:	03/27/2009
Amount Returned?:	$418,554.00
End Date?:	06/02/2009
Gain or Loss:	$39,463.00
Percentage Gain or Loss (%):	10.4%
Annualized Return on Investment %:	56.7%

 

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!

  

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.

The Seattle Times had a Foreclosure Q & A session on their website today with an attorney and housing councelor answering peoples questions about foreclosure and the foreclosure process.  There is some very good information given.

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

A recent article on MSN Money describes the surge last month in foreclosure activity around the country.  March 2009 saw a 46% increase over March 2008. 

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.