For Sale By Owner

Selling a home? We’ll help you go from For Sale to Home Sold!

For Sale By Owner

Selling a home? No commission! Lots of help!

Real Estate

Start searching for your next home today with RealtyTrac and save money. Join now!

For Sale By Owner

0% Real Estate commission, what do you have to lose?

Find bank foreclosures fast

RealtyTrac is your destination for housing foreclosures.

How a Website can benefit Real Estate Professionals

How a Website can benefit Real Estate Professionals

Given the dynamics of the real estate sector nowadays, you should be doing whatever it takes to make sure that your real estate business is rock solid, even in a recession. This is obviously difficult but having a presence for your real estate business online will definitely help you work towards this goal.

At one time, buying a house seemed simple enough for both buyer and seller. The buyer would go to the real estate office, chat with a real estate professional, ask about different properties and then visit the properties that look promising. If everything looks good, the sale is made.

Things are a little more complicated now. The real estate sector has been going southwards for some time now and buyers know that the market is in their favor. Prospective house hunters are now looking at a lot of factors and doing their research before committing to anything. Besides that, buyers do not wish to spend their time at real estate offices anymore.

Now obviously having a physical address for your real estate business is great but could it be suffering by not having a Website? If we are honest with ourselves, we would have to say yes. By not having a Website you are leaving money on the table. We could also say by not having a Website, you are putting money into the real estate professionals that do have Website. If a real estate professional wishes to be successful and tap into all target markets and reach as many prospects as they can, then it is going to need a Website.

Today people want information and they are accustomed to getting this information online with a couple clicks. Why not give them what they want? OK, so you are not the first one to market real estate online, but do you really want to be the one who never takes advantage of the Internet? You have something to offer home buyers so make sure they see everything you have to offer them.

Your goal at the end of the month is to make money. You want to make money through your business and leveraging the Internet is a smart way to bring in additional revenue. Once your Website is online you will need to spend some time developing it. Yes, there is work involved, but it is well worth it.

You want to make sure that your information is accurate, your images are clear and that the buyers have an easy way to contact you via your Website. Answering as many questions online saves the buyer and real estate professional time later on. There should be no doubt that a real estate business can benefit from having its own Website.

See the unparalleled SBI! results.

Five Tips for Buying a Foreclosure Property Below Market Value

Five Tips for Buying a Foreclosure Property Below Market Value
By Jim Saccacio, RealtyTrac Chief Executive Officer

If you feel like the escalating costs of real estate have priced you out of the market, think again. It may be time to investigate the vast opportunities available in the foreclosures market.

For people willing to do a bit of homework, the foreclosure market offers some of the best opportunities available in real estate today. Experts point toward significant growth in available foreclosure properties, so there’s never been a better time to line up your resources and educate yourself about this previously hidden market. It’s not unusual to save from 10 to 30 percent of the market value on a foreclosure property, and certain properties offer savings of 50 percent or more! There really are bargains out there. You just have to know where to look.

Web-based services such as RealtyTrac give consumers access to foreclosure and pre-foreclosure information that was previously available
only to professional real estate brokers and investors. Today, homebuyers can use these services to identify and research potential home
purchases, as well as to find the tools and professional resources they need to help them close the deal. RealtyTrac, which provides all
the foreclosure data for both MSN House and Home and Yahoo! Real Estate, has already compiled a list of over 550,000 foreclosure
properties across the country.

The keys to a successful foreclosure property purchase are diligence and patience, along with taking an educated approach to investing in this market. RealtyTrac CEO Jim Saccacio offers five tips to help you close a deal on a foreclosure property:

1. Learn about the different types of properties and the foreclosure process.
Not all foreclosures are the same! You need to educate yourself on the difference between the three basic types of properties, including notice-of-default (NOD), notice of trustee sale (NTS), and real-estate-owned REO, as well as the positive and negative aspects of buying at each stage of the foreclosure cycle.

As a rule of thumb, the best savings can be made at the pre-foreclosure stage, where home owners can avoid a foreclosure and lenders can save the time and cost involved in going through the process. Another critical point in the process is immediately prior to the auction date, when all parties might be most open to a last-minute solution.

2. Secure financing early
It’s important for a buyer to be pre-qualified before engaging in discussions with a seller. This ensures that the buyer is in a financial position to purchase the property, and is in the strongest possible position to negotiate.

3. Engage a real estate agent as a “buyer’s representative”
There’s a distinct difference between a buyer’s and a seller’s representative. Buyer’s representatives have the home buyer’s interests at heart, and are charged with finding the right property and negotiating the best price for their clients. Picking the right real estate agent will make your life much easier. Ideally, select an agent who specializes in the foreclosures market and has specific experience in REO properties.

4. Do your homework
Purchasing foreclosure properties is somewhat more risky than buying traditional real estate properties. But, with that risk comes reward in the form of much higher potential savings. With the right examination and due diligence, buyers can significantly reduce the risks. As with any purchase, timing is everything! But, it makes sense to give any property under consideration a thorough examination, including determining its condition and value, finding out the amount in default and the remaining loan balance, and running a legal investing report to make sure the property is free of any financial liabilities. Of course, it never hurts to foster a positive relationship with the seller!

5. Make a realistic offer
If you want to be taken seriously as a buyer, you must be realistic when preparing an offer. Lenders aren’t likely to give properties away, particularly in a real estate market where prices continue to rise. Additionally, homeowners in financial distress may be difficult to deal with, particularly early in the foreclosure process. An educated buyer—one who knows how much is owed on the property and what its market value is—can usually come up with a realistic offer; one that offers significant savings, while meeting the requirements of the lender.

 

RealtyTrac provides listings for over 1 Million foreclosure properties. Find your next home today.

For Sale By Owner

If you’re buying or selling real estate, you owe it to yourself to click here!