BEWARE OF GIMMICKY FORECLOSURE WEBSITES

My real estate office receives calls and online inquires daily from eager bargain busters looking for access to properties found online advertised as “foreclosed/ liquidation/ tax sale/ auction” properties available for sale. These properties more often than not have NO indication of being foreclosed, available or listed for sale. Often these internet shoppers are looking for non MLS foreclosure listings and wish to deal directly with the banks in order to cut out the middle man (realtors) and walk into boo-koo instant equity.

I am not going to go as far as to name names, but several predatory sites feed off consumer curiosity and their natural desire to “sniff out the hottest buys before being available to the public.” These sites ask for membership fees and credit cards information and in exchange for a “propriety lists of liquidation properties not available on the market!” Often one can spot these websites with the following characteristic. 1. If it seems too good to be true, it is. For ex. a Million Dollar home available for purchase for $99,797 in back taxes. 2. Missing information -Many of these sites will not legally be allowed to display unreliable & unauthorized information and are prohibited in advertising complete addresses, property features, photos or contact information. For example, they will give a photo and a street, with no street numbers.

Truth of the matter is and are you ready for this? AVAILABLE DISTRESSED, FORECLOSED AND GOVERNMENT OWNED PROPERTIES WILL BE LISTED ON THE MLS IN YOUR AREA - PERIOD. The lenders rarely, if ever, will consider direct offers. There is a reason for this. The banks must follow very specific procedure & protocol to ensure the legitimacy of the legal process. When a new foreclosure comes down the pipeline, it is assigned a bank asset manager who in turn contacts an affiliate real estate professional in that territory to evaluate, list & market the home for sale. It is in the lender’s best interest to market the home to the public through free, openly- displayed, public information in order to generate the highest price & most qualified buyer. You can see how ridiculous it seems on the other hand for a lender to
begin wheeling and dealing with the first buyer who finds the property tucked away on some very mysterious website and pays for a private list with contact information.

Many times these websites are only telling half of the story; advertising the amount of perhaps only the 2nd mortgage as the purchase price. Many of these so called ‘REO/ Foreclosed” properties are occupied homes with homeowners who have found themselves behind in payments or taxes. All of which are at least 12 months out from full foreclosure & have every intention to redeem their home in good standing!!!! Steer clear of gimmicky foreclosure sites asking for any type of payment or over zealous personal information beyond name, phone, email and property criteria.