As an Oregon licensed real estate broker I’m often asked these 5 questions about buying a foreclosed home, and today I want to go over the 5 things everyone should know before buying a foreclosed home in Roseburg Oregon.
What Is A Foreclosed Home?
The foreclosure process starts when a home owner stops making payments long enough that the lender has to attempt to recover the amount owed on the defaulted loan by taking over ownership.
In Oregon, once the home owner has gone 90 days without making a payment a NOD (notice of default) is issued. This is when it becomes public information that a home owner is entering foreclosure. After typically 140-160 days of nonpayment the foreclosed home will be subject to sale on the “courthouse steps.” This is where the sheriff of that county will auction off the foreclosed home to the highest bidder for cash. At the sheriff sale auction, foreclosed homes can only be purchased with cash in full.
In Roseburg Oregon the sheriff sales are held at the Douglas County Courthouse. If you’d like to attend a sheriff sales auction you will find them at 10:00AM every Tuesday at the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office lobby, 1036 SE Douglas Room 210, Justice Addition to the Douglas County Courthouse, Roseburg, Oregon. They also publish this document once a week to let you know what Roseburg foreclosure properties are coming up!
The auction price starts at the amount currently owed on the property. If they are unable to sell the property on the courthouse steps, then it will begin the 180 day “right of redemption” period. If the property owner is unable to come current within that time, the property will end up being listed and placed on the market. At that time we can actually go out and take a look at it!
Are foreclosures in Roseburg Oregon a good deal?
The quick answer to that, is not always. The foreclosure homes that make it to the market get there because nobody bought them at auction. The bank is losing money left and right and is going to list the property on what they determine is the market value for the asset.
The price is typically determined by the bank’s real estate agent who is going to perform what is referred to as a BPO (broker price opinion) to determine the value of the foreclosed home. This is similar to a comparative market analysis and should serve as the bank’s guideline in pricing the foreclosed home.
Sometimes a foreclosed home in Roseburg Oregon will have multiple offers within just days or even hours of being on the market. Other times, a foreclosed property may be on the market for months and months without any offers and really not be a good deal.
Remember, the foreclosed home is being managed by an asset manager rather than the typical emotion driven seller. You are dealing with a professional looking at a spreadsheet. They are going to accept the offer with the best terms that net the financial institution the most money. Sending in a low ball offer to a motivated seller can sometimes work, however the asset manager isn’t emotionally driven.
One tip I can give you in regards to negotiating bank foreclosure properties is that they do have quotas they like to hit, and we can also use their predictable methodical nature against them. Price drops will typically occur every 30 or 45 days. They also don’t like to carry inventory into the following quarter or year. This makes the best time to submit a lower offer right before a 30 day increment on the market. Or writing an offer with a closing date right before the end of the quarter or calendar year can make your offer much more likely to be accepted.
Can you get a loan on a foreclosed home?
A home’s ability to finance is all based on it’s condition. Regardless of if a home is bank owned, or privately owned, as long as the home is in good shape (livable condition with no major deferred maintenance or repairs needed) it will likely qualify for financing.
If you’re planning on using a loan we likely won’t be looking at homes with leaking roofs, excessive dry rot, busted out windows, and a dead cat in the living room. Homes like these would have to be purchased in full with cash, or in some cases you can finance them with what’s called a rehab loan. Ask your lender about the FHA 203k loan type and see if you’d be qualified! This can be a great way to get into a fixer upper that won’t qualify for conventional financing.
Will the bank do repairs on a foreclosure?
Most commonly if you buy a foreclosed home in Roseburg Oregon it will be an as-is purchase. Very seldom do banks do repairs to foreclosed homes. This plays into the above question of financing foreclosure properties and why they are often cash or rehab loan only. This is because of the fact that the home is being sold as-is, meaning the bank will do no repairs.
Can you buy a pre-foreclosure in Roseburg Oregon?
Remember in question number one when I taught you about the NOD (notice of default)? After 90 days of nonpayment it becomes public record that a home is in what’s called “pre-foreclosure.” Basically, what that means is just that someone is behind on payments. It doesn’t mean they want to sell, it doesn’t mean they can sell, it just means they are down on their luck.
This is probably the most common question I get in regards to foreclosures. Zillow and all the other websites make it look like these are great deals with low estimates ready to be sold on the market. Unfortunately, this just isn’t true. The Beckham Group does often reach out to folks in pre-foreclosure, and this is how I know most commonly they aren’t looking to sell the property unless they have no other choice.
I’ve seen medical problems, divorce, job loss, and many other things that have caused someone to fall behind on payments. Luckily there are programs offered by most financial institutions to help home owners become current on their mortgage payments. In the case that a home owner is unable to become current on mortgage payments, or decide to abandon their property to foreclosure, it will be 6 to 12 months before these foreclosed properties are on the market for sale.
If you have any additional questions about foreclosure properties in Roseburg feel free to reach out anytime and we’d be more than happy to help. Send us a message for your free list of up-to-date foreclosure properties for sale!
Talk soon!
-Anthony Beckham
