Monday, March 8, 2010

Trying To Find Hope In California Foreclosures Whenever One Can

By Kevin Burns

Looking for good news in the Golden State's rate of California foreclosures, if any can be found, will be necessary for those looking to hold onto California property or who are thinking of getting into it in the future. In any market, even a down one, money can be made though it's usually made by investors who are savvy, intelligent and have a fair amount of intestinal fortitude.

Many real estate experts often refer to the investment activity that goes on when something like the rate of CA foreclosures in the Golden State goes up as "vulture investing, " but that isn't an entirely fair label to give it. In fact, many banks and other lenders holding onto large lots of foreclosed property are looking for any sort of lifeline that can be tossed their way nowadays.

The reason they're hoping that these investors -- or any investors, for that matter -- show is that the California real estate market has been going through a decline over the last several years. It's been doing so for a number of reasons, some of which have to do with buying and selling behaviors while others have to do with how the state collects revenues from its property inventory.

Today's foreclosed and "distressed" housing inventories in states like Florida and California tend to be higher in quality than such homes were in the past. Back then, homes that ended up in these categories were usually run down and needed a lot of rehabilitation. Leaving aside why homes today are ending up in foreclosure so quickly, an investor might do well by looking at this kind of market.

For the most part, a savvy investor wishing to look at CA foreclosures and get involved in the investment side of things would be smart to look at what are called "REO" properties. REO stands for "real estate owned, " and are those properties that are owned by lenders who held the mortgage note given to them by the former buyers of those properties.

Anyone expecting to do well, whether in California or elsewhere, as far as things like CA foreclosures will need to ensure that the nature of the California market is very well understood. This is because the theory of this kind of investing in California is that one will purchase REO properties at low prices and then try to squeeze higher prices out of them whenever in the future it seems best.

For example, Riverside and San Bernardino out in California have properties in their inventories that are listing for under half of what they once would have listed for. Finding a lender, a bank or an owner who's willing to sell for $. 50 on the dollar could mean that the property could then be turned around with minimal investment and might return at least 10% on that investment in just a short amount of time.

This might not have made much sense in the old REO days but with so many properties in such great condition, the rehabilitation costs will probably be much lower, thereby making investment in properties hit by the rate of CA foreclosures much more likely to pan out. There are benefits to this kind of investing, including that willing buyers will be put into homes that once stood empty, so all is not bad when it comes to this investing.

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