Bank-owned property hot in $400k and under price range

An article came out in the Sacramento Business Journal's online edition today (click here to read it)...this is very very true. This price range is where the action is!

I can also tell you from my own personal experience with clients that some banks are starting to 'get it' and price their foreclosed inventory very aggressively! There are some GREAT deals out there. Of course there are pros and cons to purchasing bank owned property vs. individually owned property...perhaps that may be the topic of a future post...

Cases in point from my own recent (within the last 3 weeks) experience;

*A client I am working with wanted to make an offer on a new bank-owned listing in Antelope. It was a clean 3/2 of about 1300 square feet priced at $149k, and had a market value likely around $190k. By day 4 there were 9 offers on it! 12 offers by day 5! My clients opted not to make an offer.

*A new client I am just starting to work with called me regarding a property in Carmichael...it is bank owned and held by one of the banks that is notorious for under-pricing property. After just 3 days on the market it had 6 offers! The price of this property? $229k!...market value probably close to $275k.

I will be very curious to see what these properties actually sell for, which will only be known after the close of escrow. The average bank-owned listing sits on the market, overpriced, for about 170 days in the 4-county area...

Two other cases in point - both from my buyer clients who closed on bank owned properties in December;

*3 bedroom /1.5 bathroom home in the Foothill Farms area (95842) that sold for $319,000 in 2006...my clients got it for $175,000 with $5k for closing costs.

*3 bedroom /2 bathroom home in South Sacramento (95823) that was re-financed for $321,100 in late 2005...my client got it for $169,900 with $5k for closing costs.

These were both buyers who were priced out of home ownership before - they were able to get 100% financing and mortgage payments comparable to the rent they had been paying!