According to Hoffman Company and Home Builders Research, there are currently 17,500 developed lots in Las Vegas and 2,500 of these lots are for sale. The rest are still being held by lenders, investors and builders waiting for higher prices.

Over the past months, land prices in Las Vegas have been rising because of the shift of investor attention from homes to land, according to Cameron Fowler of California-based Hoffman Company which recently opened its branch in Las Vegas.

Although home builders hold around three years of land supply in Las Vegas, the number of groups owning land banks has been increasing, according to Ken Perlman, a top executive of San Diego-based Sullivan Group Advisors. The quick emergence of land banks shows that efforts to find foreclosures for sale in vacant lands have been successful for these groups.

Among home builders looking for more developed lots are KB Home, DR Horton, Richmond American and Harmony Homes, according to Dennis Smith, head of Home Builders Research. He added that home builders sold their lots over the past few years as land values sharply fell and are now back in the market before prices reach their high levels.

According to Smith, prices for developed lots range from $25,000 through $45,000 depending on size and location, substantially lower than the $100,000 price level, which was the lowest level for developed lots during the boom years.

Investors have been buying lots with plans to sell them after three years or more, but may sell them earlier if home builders need more lots and are willing to buy at premium prices. They are hoping that lots will sell at good prices within the next two years.

According to Richard Gollis, a top executive of California-based property consulting firm Concord Group, the city of Las Vegas accumulated a total of 32,000 developed lots, unsold new houses and foreclosure homes over the past five years.

In addition to looking at developed lots, investors can also find foreclosures for sale in raw lands, including vacant lands in the Kyle Canyon master-planned community which was foreclosed by lenders.

Find Foreclosures for Sale in the Vacant Lands of Las Vegas is a post from: Foreclosure Homes Investing

Real estate experts agreed that purchasing foreclosed homes as an investment is a good way to earn huge profits. But they are also one in saying that if homebuyers do not know what they are getting into, they stand to lose their hard earned money in foreclosure property investment.

According to Hahn, buying REO properties for sale requires due diligence and lots of work and is full of risks.

Real estate professionals dominate the real estate foreclosure market because it is a full-time job and not just an opportunity to get trained. This is because the market right now is flooded with cheap foreclosure properties that entice potential homebuyers and investors.

Real estate experts advised first-time homebuyers and investors not to venture into the foreclosure market alone. They suggested finding a person who has knowledge on foreclosure investing and connections in the market.

Monterey County Association of Realtors President Kim DiBenedetto pointed out that one of the most important things to consider when planning to buy bank owned properties is to hire a trained realtor who will guide you through the foreclosure investing process.

DiBenedetto explained that a professional realtor can help novice homebuyers cope with the stressful process of foreclosure investing such as dealing with sellers who do not submit the required disclosures and understanding the addendums banks usually attach to contracts that potentially take away the rights of buyers.

Danielle Babb, a mortgage consultant and “Finding foreclosures: An insider’s guide to cashing in on this hidden market” co-author, said that those who want to venture into foreclosure investing should have a solid equity position. She added that an individual who wants to invest in foreclosed homes should not be in deep revolving or credit card debt and should not be afraid to take risks.

Experts said that the timing of purchasing repossessed homes is important for a foreclosure investing venture to succeed. The foreclosure proceeding period starts when the distressed homeowner misses a payment or two and goes into default and the bank files a notice of default.

Prospect Mortgage branch manager Darius Livian said that right now is the best time to invest in REO properties for sale because of historic low interest rates and home prices.

Investing in REO Properties for Sale is a post from: Foreclosure Homes Investing

In the first quarter, the metro area covered by Phoenix, Scottsdavle and Mesa is ninth in RealtyTrac’s ranking of metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates. One home in every 40 houses was hit with a foreclosure filing in the first quarter and a total of 41,382 houses received default notices and foreclosure auction notices.

Among investors driving around Phoenix looking for foreclosure auction events and new repo properties is Lou Jarvis, an executive for real estate management company Brewer Caldwell, which has been hired by Alberta-based CBI Group to invest in Phoenix’s housing market. CBI has allotted money to buy 175 houses from foreclosure auction events in Phoenix and then turn them into rental homes.

Jarvis was a former wood molding firm co-owner who also invested in a house that has gone underwater. He said he is working to recoup his losses by working out deals in the same area where he, his adult children and brother have lost money.

One of the homes Jarvis has snapped up for CBI is a house previously owned by the Aguilars. The Aguilars said they bought the house in 1999 for only $111,000, but they refinanced it in 2006. They now regret the refinancing decision, because although they are now renting the house at an amount lower than their monthly mortgage payment, it is no longer their house.

In contrast, the purchase and rental deal has a lot of profit potential for CBI. CBI executive Jarrett Zielinski said CBI’s investment of $52,000 in the Aguilars’ house will be recouped in just five years. He said no other city housing market has fallen the way Phoenix’s market has.

Because of the apparent success of CBI’s first round of investments, it has opened another fund to finance the purchase of 160 more Phoenix homes from foreclosure auction events and from other sellers of foreclosure homes.

CBI is also planning to conduct investment seminars for its renters with the goal of making them acquire their house back.

Jarvis’ company Brewer Caldwell has already purchased about 125 homes in 2009 for CBI. About one-fourth of these homes were occupied by former owners who were willing to rent them.

Although Jarvis’ company is benefitting from foreclosure auction events in Phoenix, Jarvis is sad that he had to advise his daughter to walk away from her house whose value has declined by 60 percent.

Investors Grab Foreclosure Auction Opportunities in Phoenix is a post from: Foreclosure Homes Investing

These fix-it investors buy bargain-priced repo homes, fix them and then rent them out. They not only fix the houses themselves, they also find tenants, manage them and then make occasional repairs.

Michael Larson, a Weiss Research analyst, said the investors during the boom were mostly flippers — speculators who buy distressed properties and sell them a few days or weeks later at a profit. He said long-term investors are those who buy homes at a price level that allow them to profit from rent.

Edward Green, 64 years old, and his 60-year-old wife have been investing in repo homes since 2008. They now have five rental properties. Their first investment, however, was a mistake. It was not a foreclosure property; it was a condo sold to them by their daughter for $250,000 in 2007. They took out a mortgage to pay the condo and rented it out cheaply. When they wanted to sell it, they could no longer sell it because the flood of repo homes started and the housing crisis began.

The Greens were not looking for a home to buy when they made their second investment. They saw an opportunity, and grabbed it. Olivia Green, who worked in real estate, showed a foreclosure property to a client who did not like the house because it looked too damaged, but Olivia saw something.

Olivia then invited her husband, whose business is in home repair, to take a second look at the property. After calculating the repair costs, they bought the property in cash for $235,000, spent around $16,000 for repairs and then rented it out at $1,695 to Olivia’s client who originally rejected the property.

Encouraged by their second investment, they searched for other cheap foreclosure homes in other states. They bought three more bargain-priced repo homes: one priced at $16,000 which needed $16,000 in renovations; another priced at $35,000; and a townhouse priced at $60,000.

Glenn Kelman, head of online brokerage Redfin.com, said individuals planning to invest in buying and renting out repo homes must examine themselves if they are willing to maintain their rental homes themselves and spend some of their weekends or nights repairing something in their rental homes.

Fix-It Investors Can Make Money from Repo Homes is a post from: Foreclosure Homes Investing

The October rating was quite unexpected since RealtyTrac has reported last month that the September foreclosure ratings were down to 12% compared to August. Analysts said that the decrease in the number of foreclosure homes in September was only due to the efforts of some states and lenders that offered to slow down the foreclosure process of delinquent accounts. Since the said solution is only temporary, foreclosures have just been stalled, not totally prevented.

It seems that experts in the field of housing market have known that this situation would occur in the future. Last August, Wall Street Journal has reported that commentators have said that the trumpeting of ‘temporary’ solutions to the problem of foreclosure will start to lose gear after several months. The said commentators believe that the rates would again surge up after three months.

However, the government seems to still be in the positive light. Last Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson was reported to have said that the Treasury is studying solutions to solve or help people avoid foreclosures. The future proposals for the said problem are part of the $700 billion bailout package.

Meanwhile, the state of California is singing a different tune from October’s foreclosure ratings. With the state’s implementation of foreclosure solutions, the numbers of distressed properties in the area are said to be have decreased to two-digit numbers. RealtyTrac Chief Executive Officer James J. Saccacio said that the state had a 44% decrease in the rates of foreclosures compared to October last year.

Foreclosure Alternatives: Are They There Only to Forestall the Inevitable? is a post from: Foreclosure Homes Investing

Entrepreneurs see opportunities in the housing crisis that the country is experiencing at the moment. With the help of technology, these entrepreneurs establish websites for bulk sales of foreclosed properties.

Through the websites, buyers and sellers would not be needing middlemen anymore. All transactions would be directly between them.

ReoLynx.com, a real estate website, was launched last month. In this site, properties are sold in three very easy steps – buyers pick their choice of home from the site, they create their portfolios, then they top the bid of other buyers.

In other websites like BulkREO.com which started last year, portfolios required are those of the sellers instead of the buyers. Another website, VerifiedREOS.com, has recently publicized its business on news programs.

Bulk sales of foreclosed homes is not an easy business. One of the problems most often encountered is discrepancies in price. Sellers and investors would often not come up with an agreed price and in the end, the banks would not sell the properties.

This problem arises because banks do not have the capacity to pass on the properties they have acquired. They are not able to cope with the large number of repossessed properties they have. This is where the advantage of online transactions comes in.

However, banks think that online exchange is a last resort for buyers. Banks have withdrawn from bulk sales of foreclosures because buyers demand great discount from such transactions. Hence, buyers turn to online sales.

Nevertheless, these online businesses contend that most of the properties they sell have been idle with banks for the longest time and they promote the sales of these foreclosed properties.

New Opportunities Rise from Foreclosure Crisis is a post from: Foreclosure Homes Investing

This Twin Cities first-look program will be the model for a nationwide program projected to expand to other cities such as New York and Cleveland. It will be organized by Dayton’s Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services in Saint Paul and the Greater Metropolitan Housing Corp. in Minneapolis.

Greater Metropolitan’s president Carolyn Olson said that the two housing organizations have already identified over 200 foreclosed properties. She also said that Minnesota is considering a proposal to spend some of the city’s share in the federal housing recovery funds for subsidizing the difference between the purchase cost of a house and its market value in a downturn.

In Minneapolis, the program will focus on distressed properties in northeast Minneapolis, the North Side and the neighborhoods of Phillips and Powderhorn. In Saint Paul, the program will focus on properties in the Invest Saint Paul area.

Twin Cities leaders said that the first-choice program is being piloted in Minneapolis and Saint Paul because the two cities have been implementing foreclosure programs way ahead of other cities in the country. They have been using nonprofit funds and state and city money to purchase select foreclosure properties as part of bigger rebuilding projects and neighborhood rehabilitation programs.

The four national nonprofit organizations which have launched the pilot program have created the National Community Stabilization Trust to focus on the program. Among the mortgage lenders who will provide the foreclosed properties are JPMorgan Chase, Fannie Mae, CitiGroup and Wells Fargo.

Nonprofit Developers Will Have First Look at Foreclosed Properties is a post from: Foreclosure Homes Investing

New homebuyers are eyeing these distressed foreclosure properties which are valued much lower that market standards. They stand to gain from these transactions, as well as the opportunity to own their primary real estate. These purchases are much supported by banks who do not want these properties riding their books, as well as lenders who have enough foreclosure homes in their hands to function properly.

Virginia ranks No.11 among the states with the highest foreclosure rate. September reflected one out of 505 homes in foreclosure, totaling 6,397 foreclosures for that month. Compared to last year, September’s rates have gone up a staggering 229% and have deteriorated from August by 20%. As a whole, the nationwide tally is at one foreclosure for every 475 houses, an increase by 21% from last year. With these figures, purchases of these properties by investors and budget buyers can help normalize the market and bring badly inflated prices back up.

With this promising trend in purchases, and the number of investors and individual buyers inquiring for available homes for sale, mortgage companies in Virginia are providing a public offering of these foreclosure properties. They will present these homes up for sale to prospective investors and buyers through a caravan tour, bringing prospects to actual home locations while providing relative information regarding these properties.

Turning Crisis into Silver: Foreclosure Homes Attract Investors is a post from: Foreclosure Homes Investing

To guide you throughout the process, here is what experts think about some of the said myths in buying foreclosure homes:

Foreclosure properties are always available on a bargain price.

According to the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors, lenders who own foreclosed homes offer great discounts to qualified buyers so they can get the properties off their books. Lenders also want to maximize the returns they can get from foreclosures. So, do not be surprised if they are willing to sell properties for almost half the price. However, buyers should still take the time to visit the unit for ocular inspection. As much as possible, buyers must refrain from purchasing units that need major reconstruction.

Foreclosure homes are always in poor condition.

This might be the most popular misconception of all. Borrowers use their houses to guarantee payment of their mortgages or debts. So, this means that the units have passed the minimum property standards needed for mortgages. People lose their home because of different reasons. You might also be surprised to know that even popular mansions can be subjected to foreclosures.

It is hard to look for foreclosed homes.

With the advent of the Internet, finding these properties would be an easy task. The growing number of foreclosures in the country would also make the work a lot easier. Listings of foreclosure properties are very much available on real estate websites. You can also contact your trusted real estate agent. Generally, real estate agents are the first people who know the best foreclosure deals in certain locations. Consider getting their services if you are really bent on looking for foreclosures.

The Ins and Outs of Buying Foreclosure Properties is a post from: Foreclosure Homes Investing

As you’re looking for repo homes to buy, more and more foreclosed homes are entering the foreclosure inventory, increasing choices and chances of getting a good investment. If you’re lucky, the home you like is not spotted by others and stays on the list for some months. The price will get lower and lower until you decide it’s time to buy.

Real estate professional Rick Sewvall has focused on foreclosures for over 20 years. He is presently handling about 70 properties that are either in foreclosure proceedings or in redemption periods. He says that there are a lot of attractive distressed houses among foreclosure properties. Many previous occupants left their foreclosed houses in good shape.

Darren Lee of First Bank and Trust in South Dakota said that many mortgage loans were taken using the flexible rate mortgage option. He says that flexible rate mortgages are good for people who can afford to overpay most of the time, but too risky for people who used them just to make monthly payments affordable during the first years.

Here are some things that you can do as you explore your investment options in foreclosed homes:

Visit the county courthouse and check for homes that are scheduled for auctions. Nowadays, foreclosed homes are auctioned off almost every week.

Drive around the property that you like and examine it from the outside. You’re not allowed to inspect it before the auction.

Remember that some houses are pretty to look at on the outside, hiding interiors that have been ruined by previous occupants.

Look for distessed foreclosure listings in newspapers, web sites, newsletters, newspapers and real estate magazines.

Check notice of defaults filed at the county office.

Foreclosure Investing: Increase Your Income is a post from: Foreclosure Homes Investing