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A Guide to Buying REO Foreclosures in Portland

An increasing number of homes are becoming part of the foreclosures in Portland. This continuous rise of foreclosure homes has been the major cause of the decline in property prices. With the prices of residential property at a low, and some respite expected in the form of federal funds, people are now looking at buying homes again. For these home buyers, foreclosure homes become a more feasible option because of the discounts generally associated with them.

Foreclosed homes can sell as either HUD foreclosures or Bank foreclosed homes. While HUD foreclosure homes are sold by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, bank foreclosures are sold by lenders who would have foreclosed upon the homes.

A lender would generally begin foreclosure proceedings against a home owner when payments of the home mortgage have not been received continuously. The home is first put up for sale at an auction as part of the foreclosure proceedings. When a house does not sell at the auction, its deed/title is transferred to the lender.

Once the property is transferred to the lender it becomes a Real Estate Owned property (also commonly referred to as a REO property). Lenders/banks do employ the services of real estate agents/agencies to sell their foreclosed homes from time to time. However, approaching a lender to buy a foreclosed home is very acceptable.

Finding REO foreclosures in Portland has become quite easy, thanks to the internet. There are innumerable web sites that provide foreclosure listings, and Portland listings are part of all the prominent ones. You can have budget specific searches in specified zip codes.

Once you have made a short list of the houses that interest you, inspecting them is very important. Only upon inspection of these houses will you know of their condition. While some houses might be in close to perfect condition, others might not. Knowledge of the extent of repairs that would be needed should be essential in deciding a buying price.

Once the inspection is complete, you would negotiate the houses price with the lender. When the lender receives more than one offer for a foreclosed home, the home is usually sold to the highest offer (this decision lies with the bank though).

One thing that makes buying REO homes a safer option is that you normally do not have to worry about arrears linked to the home. After foreclosure, lenders normally take care of any unpaid taxes or secondary liens attached to the home.

With the large range of foreclosure homes in Portland, do take the time to go though as many options as you can before buying a house.

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