Ever since people started putting mortgages on their homes, people have been losing their homes to foreclosure.  So foreclosures have always been around, but lately they are on the increase.  When the housing industry collapsed a few years ago tens of thousands of homes went into foreclosure.  In order not to flood the real estate market with foreclosures and thus further damage the already precarious housing market banks held onto these foreclosures.  Now that the housing market has started to improve the banks are starting to release these homes into the real estate marketplace.  We are seeing them come up frequently in the Kent Island and Queen Anne’s County areas of  Maryland.

So are foreclosures a good deal for you?  That really depends on your financial position and the condition of the home.  Sometimes the owners of the house are very, very angry that they are loosing their home and decide to take it out on the house.  Sometimes the owner simply was in a bad financial situation and the house has been severely neglected for a long period of time.  In the best case scenario there is little if any damage, but be aware that it generally takes at least a year from the time the foreclosure process is started until it hits the market so the house will have been vacant for an extended period of time.

There are a number of things to know before considering a foreclosure.  Probably one of the most important is that in most cases if there is damage to the home the banks are not going to fix it.  So make sure you have the funds available for any repairs.  The best thing you can do is to have a home inspection on the property.  Even though the bank is unlikely to make any repairs at least you will know what you are getting into before it’s entirely your problem.  If the home inspection was to turn up something you can’t afford to fix or even something you simply don’t want to deal with you can always walk away and your only financial exposure would have been paying for the home inspection.

Lastly, if you find a foreclosure and it is a great deal, in good condition or at least in a condition you can afford to fix don’t hesitate to make an offer and get it under contract.  Foreclosures tend to go pretty quickly when they are priced correctly and if you hesitate even for a few days I guarantee you someone else will have already bought it. If you see a foreclosure you are interested in purchasing contact your Real Estate Agent immediately and they will be able to walk you through the entire process from viewing the home, to the online bid process and all of the requirements specific to the bank or whatever lending institution is holding the foreclosure. To search for available foreclosures in your area  “click here”