Jim Matzen Intero Real Estate Services 5570 Sanchez Dr. #200 San Jose, CA 95123 Office: (408)754-9502 Fax: (408)852-0346

Santa Clara County's premier service for Bank Owned Properties 

and your host for both

 The Silicon Valley Home Foreclosure Seminar

and

The Original Silicon Valley Foreclosure Bus Tour

                                              INFORMATION WITHOUT OBLIGATION

JOIN US on for the Silicon Valley Foreclosure Seminar or the Silicon Valley Foreclosure Home Tour. We are currenltly planning thge next event. Please sign up and let us know the areas you are interested in viewing.

See us on ABC news by clicking here http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/business&id=6100037

Each tour we visit up to 10 foreclosed homes.  Plan to spend about 3 hours viewing homes. There is no cost or obligation. Reservations are required, and space is limited, so get your seat today!

To sign up for a tour, click the button on the left side of this page, e-mail us or give us a call. If you have any questions, or would like to visit properties sooner, please feel free to contact us. we'll be happy to help you! 408-754-9502 or jim@matzenteam.com

*****Scroll down for more information*****

Please Note: Seats are available to qualified Home Buyers without existing Agent Representation – If you are currently working with a real estate agent,
please visit homes with that agent.

Buying bank owned properties

There is a lot of interest in buying bank owned properties these days. A lot of information, some good and some bad, is floating around about the subject.   Often times, the information offered requires a fee to be paid, with the promise that you can make a lot of money with little effort once you know “the secret formula”.  The fact is that there are no secrets, and to make money in this segment of the real estate market does require some effort, and patience.  The Silicon Valley Foreclosure Tour is a FREE service.

What’s an REO?

REO stands for “Real Estate Owned”.  These are properties that have gone through foreclosure and are now owned by the bank or mortgage company.  This is not the same as a property up for foreclosure auction.  When buying a property during a foreclosure sale, you must pay at least the loan balance plus any interest and other fees accumulated during the foreclosure process.  You must also be prepared to pay with cash in hand.  And on top of all that, you’ll receive the property 100% “as is”.  That could include existing liens and even current occupants that need to be evicted.  A REO, by contrast, is a much “cleaner” and attractive transaction.  The REO property did not sell during its foreclosure auction.  The bank now owns it.  The bank will see to the removal of tax liens, evict occupants if needed and generally prepare for the issuance of a title insurance policy to the buyer at closing.  Please be aware that REO’s may be exempt from normal disclosure requirements.  In California, for example, banks are exempt from giving a Transfer Disclosure Statement, a document that normally requires sellers to tell you about any defects they are aware of.

Is it a bargain?

It’s commonly assumed that any REO must be a bargain and an opportunity for easy money.  This simply isn’t true.  You have to be very careful about buying a REO if your intent is to make money off of it.  While it’s true that the bank is typically anxious to sell it quickly, they are also strongly motivated to get as much as they can for it.  When considering the value of a REO, you need to look closely at comparable sales in the neighborhood and be sure to take into account the time and cost of any repairs or remodeling needed to prepare the house for resale.  The bargains with money making potential exist, and many people do very well buying foreclosures, yet there are also many REO’s that are not good buys and not likely to turn a profit. 

Ready to make an offer?

Most banks have a REO department that you’ll work with in buying a REO property from them.  Typically the REO department will use a listing agent to get their REO properties listed on the local MLS.  Before making your offer, I will contact either the listing agent or REO department at the bank to find out as much as we can about what they know about the condition of the property and what their process is for receiving offers.  Since banks almost always sell REO properties “as is”, you’ll want to be sure and include an inspection contingency in your offer that gives you time to check for hidden damage and terminate the offer if you find it.  As with making any offer on real estate, you’ll make your offer more attractive if you can include documentation of your ability to pay, such as a pre-approval letter from a lender.  After you’ve made your offer, you can expect the bank to make a counter offer.  Then it will be up to you to decide whether to accept their counter, or offer a counter to the counter offer.  Realize, you’ll be dealing with a process that probably involves multiple people at the bank, and unlike us, they don’t work evenings or weekends.  It’s not unusual for the process of offers and counter offers to take days or even weeks.

Financing a REO or Bank Owned Property

In most cases, financing a bank-owned property is similar to financing a traditional purchase.  In order to have your offer accepted, unless you are paying cash, you will need to be pre-approved for a new loan.  Additionally, the bank that owns the property may request a more in-depth review of your assets.  Please be aware that during these extremely volatile times in the mortgage industry, longer-term rate lock periods may be required to allow for your negotiation period with the bank's REO Department.  One of the primary keys to strengthening your buying position is to be working with a highly-qualified, professional lender.  (A generic, web-based pre-approval letter will not be sufficient in this market.)  J. Shoop, a 15-year industry veteran from Indymac Bank, will provide you with a no-obligation Mortgage Planning Session, to evaluate your long-term and short-term investment goals, as well as your cash-flow and equity objectives.  Be sure to ask about our FREE credit report offer!