Foreclosure Fetcher Blog

If you haven’t seen at least one real estate television show in the past six months than you probably sold your TV on craigslist trying to avoid becoming a statistic of the recent foreclosure market.  These shows have been everywhere; Flip This House, Flip That House, House Hunters, My House is Worth What?, and Sell This House! are just a few of the slew of real estate related reality shows that have grown in popularity as a result of the recent housing boom.  As the housing market cools down buying and selling property has become much hard, and these overly positive TV shows are starting to be revealed for their inaccurate portrayal of the real real estate market.

A new show has surfaced just in time to save the entertainment value of Real Estate. “Real Estate Confidential” premiered last Sunday, March 25, at 8 pm et/pt with back to back half hour episodes.  This show follows a team of Los Angeles real estate professionals to reveal everything that realtors do for their client before the actual buying or selling of the home. Viewers will finally be able to learn the nitty-gritty of the real estate process including how real estate agents price homes, the art of the real estate negotiation, how to prepare a home in order to sell quickly, and veteran tactics used for bidding on homes. 

The first episode of Real Estate Confidential is one that foreclosure flippers and those at risk of being foreclosed want to pay close attention to as the housing market cools into an environment that is more difficult to own and invest.  Los Angeles real estate broker, Anne Russel, is tasked to help the owner of a fixer-upper avoid foreclosure. Russel works diligently and tactfully as she attempts to bring the owner out of dept by selling his home well above the current market value.  At the same time Russel is juggling two home flippers in Encino, California who need to sell there house and find another at the right price.

Foreclosure Flippers and home buyers alike can learn a lot from this show. The current subprime lending market has many feeling pressure of possible foreclosure.  Real Estate investing in foreclosures is also proving to be more difficult with the increased rate of mortgage defaults. When the housing market heats back up hopefully you can approach the real estate market from a more educated perspective. www.foreclosurefetcher.com has several free informational resources that can help you in your search for the most profitable flip, or best deal on your dream home fixer-upper.

There is consistantly a lot of buzz surrounding foreclosures.  Real Estate errupted into the entertainment world, and as a result a lot of unique home buying and selling experiences are reaching the masses and becoming generally thought of as truths, when in fact many of them are myths.  Shows about foreclosures, and other fixer uppers are no different.  Take note of these ”5 Foreclosure Falacies” provided to you by www.ForeclosureFetcher.com.

1. Buying a foreclosed home from the bank is the best way to purchase a foreclosed home.
2. Lenders are ALWAYS eager to get foreclosed property off their hands.
3. ALL mortgage lenders advertise and manage their foreclosures in the same way.
4. When purchasing a foreclosed home from a lender there are probably liens against the title.
5. A bank can not make profit when selling a foreclosed home.

 Go to, http://www.foreclosurefetcher.com/foreclosure-info/Fact-and-Fiction-About-Foreclosures, to learn about the details of each of these fallacies, and how the truth can help you buy or sell a foreclosed home.

Here are some highlights from the below article on the Connecticut foreclosure market appearing in www.nytimes.com on March 18, 2007.

1. A slow housing market and continued growth of risky mortgage products is leading to increasingly  high foreclosure rates in Connecticut.
2. 1,451 February foreclosure filing in Connecticut; 61% higher than last year.
3. Connecticut was 17^th in the nation for foreclosure rates in 2006; one foreclosure filing for every 118 households

Foreclosure flippers and homebuyers in Connecticut be sure to read this article, and then check out the Foreclosure Fetcher Connecticut Market page at http://foreclosurefetcher.com/connecticut.html.

March 18, 2007
In the Region | Connecticut

A Surge In Foreclosure Filings

By LISA PREVOST
AFTER 20 years as a lawyer, David Volman has handled enough divorces to know that many marriages collapse under financial strain. So when his practice, in Shelton, began receiving an unusually large number of divorce cases last summer, Mr. Volman took it as an omen. “Divorces go hand in hand with foreclosures and bankruptcies,” he said.
Sure enough, in the first two months of this year, Mr. Volman took on some 50 bankruptcy cases, an “enormous amount,” he said, given that in all of 2006 he handled 19.
Many of the cases involve working-class couples in the Lower Naugatuck Valley who can no longer afford their mortgages. “People are walking into my office and saying: ‘Here are the keys. Do whatever you have to do. I just want to get out of this so I can sleep at night,’ ” he said.
A slower housing market and the proliferation of risky mortgage products continue to drive up foreclosure rates across Connecticut. Preliminary figures for February gathered by RealtyTrac Inc., a national online marketplace for foreclosure properties, show a total of 1,451 foreclosure filings in Connecticut, a 61 percent increase over the corresponding period last year.

(more…)

Foreclosure Fetcher is not only providing you the search tools for your next affordable home.  Foreclosure Fetcher is here to be a general real estate learning resource.  If you are buying a home and in need of a loan make sure you are not easy prey for the loan sharks out there.  Here are ten easy ways to stay informed: (See the full article here http://www.foreclosurefetcher.com/foreclosure-info/How+to+Avoid+Loan+Fraud)

1. Attend an educational course on homeownership offered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
2. Be fully informed about the price of surrounding homes in the neighborhood
3. Hire a home inspector you can trust.  Be sure to get references
4. Always be suspicious if someone tries to steer you to one lender.  Shop around and compare.
5. Never make a false statement on your loan application, i.e. overstating your income, the source of your downpayment, debt information, or how long you have been employed.
6. Interview real estate agents to help in the home buying process.
7. Never borrow more money than you know you can afford to repay.
8. Never sign a blank document or a document containing blanks.
9. Read everything you sign.  Ask questions if there is something about the loan process you do not understand.
10. Finally, Foreclosure Flippers intending to resell, do state on your loan application that you intend to occupy the house if you are renting it.  This violates federal law and is a crime.

All you foreclosure flippers out there be sure to check out the new article on Real Estate Investing, entitled How to Raise the Value of Your Property (http://www.foreclosurefetcher.com/foreclosure-info/). Learn some great real estate investing tips that will increase your profit without an incredible amount of effort.  Foreclosure Fetcher is dedicated to passing on helpful information that will make the buying and selling process go as smooth as possible for experienced foreclosure flippers, seasoned real estate buyers, and those just starting out in this excited field.

Trying to wade through all of the information about mortgages can seem like an impossible task.  What is the best mortage loan?  What does this and that mean?  You can find answers to some of the most asked questions and get some basic mortgage information at Foreclosure Fetchers page about Finding a Mortgage. Foreclosure Fetcher is also full of other useful info about more than just mortgages like articles about buying foreclosures. 

Is there really a real estate bubble?  Will real estate prices continue to fall?  Will the market bust or is it at or near its low?  These questions can be difficult to answer with any certainty.  One thing that you can be sure about is that buying a home now can be a risk and that’s why buying a foreclosure may be a good bet.  When you buy a foreclosure you often can get it below market value. So, even if the market falls more you will still be ahead of the drop.  If the real estate market is already at or near the bottom you will only be that much farther ahead when the market recovers.  If you are interesting in buying a house for investment or a home to live in be sure to research buying a foreclosure.  Foreclosure Fetcher has all the foreclosure tools and information you need to make an educated decision about buying a foreclosed property and a database of foreclosed houses in your state and area.

You probably know that buying a foreclosure can be a good way to buy a new home to live in or for investment, but you may not know exactly how to go about buying a foreclosure.  ForeclosureFetcher.com has everything you need to learn about buying foreclosed properties.  To start you should visit the home foreclosure information page for a comprehensive review of foreclosure investing with great articles like the guide to buying foreclosures that explains everything you need to know to get started.  After you feel comfortable with the basics of buying foreclosures you will want to check out the useful page of foreclosure tools.  Once you are ready to start looking for properties in your area you can test drive Foreclosure Fetcher’s database with a free 7-day trial. 

Tell you friends about Foreclosure Fetcher and make sure to bookmark the site and feel free to link to it from your own Blog or website. 

If you are a first time homebuyer you should consider buying a foreclosure.  With the dramatic rise in home prices over the last few years it can seem almost impossible to find a nice home at an affordable price.When people think of foreclosures they often think of depressed properties, but the fact is that there are many quality foreclosed homes for sale.  If you are a first-time home buyer make sure to look at all of the foreclosure buying tools at Foreclosure Fetcher and the use the search features to find a foreclosed home in your area.