Repo homes in McAllen and foreclosed houses in various areas of Texas are being offered at very affordable rates. However, not a lot of people are taking advantage of these offerings. Most of them prefer to rent, causing apartment markets to thrive as home selling declines. In Austin, for example, occupancy rates in the apartment market have surged in 2010, causing supplies to decrease and rental fees to jump.

According to realtors, even those who are brave enough to purchase Texas repo homes and other distressed properties are converting their acquisitions into apartment buildings. For 2011, occupancy rate in the rental market of Austin is projected to jump by 2.2%, with rental rates expected to increase by 6.8%. Based on these projected figures, Austin will likely become the second best performing apartment market in the U.S. in 2011.

While a big percentage of the metro area's foreclosed and repossessed properties for sale remain unsold, its apartment industry recorded a revenue increase of 9% in 2010. This is second only to San Jose, California which posted a revenue growth of 10.2% during the same period. San Jose is also the only metro area projected to outperform Austin's apartment sector in 2011.

Properties offered at bank and government foreclosure auctions continue to suffer as buyers stay away from the home selling market. This benefitted the apartment industry as people looking for homes change direction from homeownership to renting. Occupancy rate for the city's apartment sector rose to 93.5% in 2010, translating to a percentage point jump of 3.6. The figure represents one of the strongest occupancy increases in the whole U.S. during the period, analysts have reported.

And although foreclosed and repossessed properties for sale are being offered at record low prices, people still preferred renting, even when rental fees rose by 2.4% in 2010 compared with 2009 levels. Average monthly rent in Austin last year was at $854.

Repossessed Properties for Sale Get Beaten by Apartment Market is a post from: Foreclosure Homes Investing

The complexes, which were purchased in 2007 by CNC Investments for approximately $190 million, are now being sold without an asking price.

According to Patton Jones of Apartment Realty Advisors, the housing units are luxurious. He added that the 583 units at Monterone Round Rock average about 1,200 square feet in area and feature a wide-screen surround-sound theater room and a wine cellar.

Jones however is realistic about his sales prospects for the units during the downturn. He said that renters now are more focused on saving money so they are looking at smaller units with fewer amenities.

Nonetheless, Jones said, the amenities at the three complexes which include the Monterone Steiner Ranch and the Monterone Canyon Creek, will make these luxurious buildings in demand when the market has already recovered.

Jones explained that because of the lack of financing for commercial development such as multifamily projects, there are only a few higher-end multifamily developments in and around Austin, making the Monterone assets very attractive to investors planning to buy foreclosed house in Austin that can be rented out for profit.

Additionally, despite the foreclosure, the three complexes remain attractive to investors because they are 92-percent occupied and the buildings are only ten years old.

According to Jones, who leads the team marketing the luxurious residential portfolio, the three complexes are being marketed as a single asset. The commercial loan covering the developments has an interest rate of 5.77 percent. Purchase offers are being accepted until the last week of October.

Jones is expecting private and public real estate investment trusts to look at the properties. He is also hoping that wealthy individual investors will now come out after 8 or ten years of waiting in the background to look at the Monterone assets. He said that wealthy investors often invest in a cycle, preferring to buy properties when the market is soft.

For other individual investors who are planning to buy foreclosed house not in blocks but in units because of their limited investment money, they can wait until bigger real estate institutions or wealthy investors buy the complexes and then resell the housing units separately.

Buy Foreclosed House in Austin for Rental Investment is a post from: Foreclosure Homes Investing

Every house sold in a home foreclosure auction represents a series of failures on the part of the borrower – failure to pay several monthly payments, failure to respond properly to notices of defaults and foreclosure and failure to work out a foreclosure prevention strategy with the lender. On the part of the lender, there is failure to work out a way by which the borrower can cover the missed payments and failure to use options offered under the Making Affordable program of the Obama administration.

To first time participants, the foreclosure auction is chaotic, with everyone pretty much left to his own devices. Most are scanning foreclosure listings given by a foreclosure tracking service and making computations. The others are comparing notes about potential profitable properties in hushed tones.

Other participants who have already studied the listings and have already made their estimates just wait for the trustees and county officials to begin the foreclosure auction.

In Travis County, the foreclosed home auction is usually held behind the old court building.

Enticed by stories of bargain homes that can be easily acquired, first time participants usually crowd the auction during the first hours. But as other bidders outbid them in each of the properties they were hoping to buy, most of the first timers would be gone by the middle of the day.

The foreclosed property auction is typically ruled by the investors – the ones with cash and cashier’s checks or the ones backed by real estate investment companies. Before the bidding, these investors have already made their calculations and have already decided when they should buy and when they should stop bidding.

At the foreclosure auction in June, based on the commotion and the fierceness of the bidding war, the most desired property was a large beautiful house appraised at $776,000 with the former owner having a mortgage balance of only around $300,000.

The winning bidder can make thousands of dollars in profits if he can get the house close to half of the appraisal. The bidding started at $298,000 and ended when a local investor raised his bid to $505,000.

Just like any other county auction, such are the ways of a foreclosure auction in Texas.

Anatomy of a Foreclosure Auction in Texas is a post from: Foreclosure Homes Investing

Deceptive practices were filed against Excel and United Servicing LLC, a company that was created after complaints were made against Excel.

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) said that about 19 customers of Excel came forward and filed a complaint against the company and its repossessed home rescue scheme. According to court documents, customers were made to pay for worthless foreclosure rescue, credit repair and debt counseling services.

The couple who filed a complaint against Excel said that they experienced financial difficulties after purchasing a property in Fort Worth in 2007. Back then, the house was valued at $280,000.

Early this year, the couple was approached by an Excel telemarketer who offered them the company’s services to help them renegotiate their distressed loan. They were asked to pay a $1,500 fee. And that was the last time that the couple heard anything from Excel despite numerous e-mails and follow-up phone calls to the company.

According to the lawsuit, Excel made its customers believed that it has a team of professional mediators and legal experts that can help distressed homeowners persuade mortgage lenders to work out loan terms and thus, avoid repossessed home sale.

However, the lawsuit noted that the company has no legitimate resources, business model or plan to perform any service that could help distressed homeowners avoid foreclosure.

BBB noted that repossessed home rescue fraud, similar to the one committed by Excel, is becoming a trend in the real estate industry. It cited the case of United Financial Solutions which received a failing grade from the BBB after four complaints of mortgage fraud had been made against it.

United Financial is one of the six companies sued by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2008 for deceptive practices. Fort Worth BBB President John Riggins explained that FTC took over the case of United Financial because the crime happened in several states. He added that there are numerous types of mortgage fraud which made tracking them difficult for local and state officials.

Distressed homeowners are advised to contact their mortgage lenders to avoid repossessed home rescue fraud.

Houston Firm Sued for Repossessed Home Rescue Fraud is a post from: Foreclosure Homes Investing