FORECLOSURES AND DISTRESS SALES
Foreclosures and Distress Sales. These words can really excite the home buyer and investor with the anticipation and expectation of getting a home for a fraction of its real value. We all look for those "hidden gems" or for those bargains that have gone unnoticed by everyone else.
To see the latest edition of the FREE FORECLOSURE LISTS, click HERE.
Although there is potential for extraordinary gain on these properties, the process is littered with pitfalls that can create major obstacles along
the way. Many things can go wrong if you don't have the knowledge and experience to navigate through the difficult areas.
We know that many people have a distorted or incomplete idea of how the foreclosure process works in Canada and in particular how it works in British Columbia. Foreclosures are subject to a complex legal process that takes time to complete.
Some people's experience with foreclosures may come largely from late night infomercials extolling the virtues of the latest real estate guru’s program to guarantee riches and financial security without having to put any money down. The reality usually is quite different.
Foreclosures in Canada are not nearly as common as they are in some parts of the United States, such as parts of Florida, California and Arizona that have been hit particularly hard in the recent Housing Bubble and subsequent collapse of parts of the US housing markets. Although nothing like the American experience is happening here, there are more foreclosures now than there were a year or two ago. The rate appears to be increasing.
To see the latest edition of the FREE FORECLOSURE LISTS, click HERE.
Even in the best of economic times, there will always be foreclosed properties, for one reason or another. Altghough the rate of foreclosures is an inverse function of overall econcomic activity, the rate of foreclosures will never fall to zero. This is good for people looking to buy foreclosure properties - they will never run out of places to buy.
BC foreclosures are subject to a fairly rigid legal process, overseen by the courts, that is designed to provide some measure of fairness to all sides, including to the homeowner who has defaulted on his mortgage.
An effect of all this is that the process takes time, partly to allow the homeowner every opportunity to bring his mortgage back into good standing before he loses his home. Because of the Court’s involvement in the process, the buyer can not acquire the property until the proposed purchase agreement has been reviewed and approved by the court.
For those buyers and investors with considerable patience and a keen eye for value, the potential definitely exists to acquire foreclosure properties at substantial discounts from market price. This is not a market for the naive or unsophisticated buyer and it should be approached with great caution and good advice.
The added costs of acquisition and higher degrees of risk and uncertainty that come with dealing on these types of properties can well be offset by an extraordinarily high rate of return. Essentially, this is the lure of buying foreclosures.
Many people are willing to take on the extra work, time and money involved in buying these properties because they want the bigger rewards that come with making the right choice.
It is for this reason that we have created the FREE FORECLOSURE LISTS, updated weekly.
People who are interested in these types of properties as investments or as their home will benefit from having this strategic information available.
As a bonus, we provide data on estate sales, which often can represent better than average purchasing and investment opportunities, usually without a complicated court process.
To see the latest edition of the FREE FORECLOSURE LISTS, click HERE.
