Bank owned homes in Bend are for more than the first time homeowner.  The choices in homes that have gone through the foreclosure process vary in price, location, size and style.  There of course are areas that have been hit harder by foreclosures than others but with patience and perseverance you can find just about any type of home you are looking for as a bank owned home or REO (real estate owned).

Bend Bank Owned Homes Under $225,000

Full List of Bend Bank Owned Homes Under $225,000

Remember that bank owned properties are generally priced under market value and priced to sell quickly! Occasionally a bank owned home will go through a price reduction or two before a buyer will write an offer. Remember that when a home is reduced and it excites you, it very well may be exciting others too! If you the home you decide is right for you and it is bank owned, be prepared to act quickly.

Bend Bank Owned Homes OVER $225,000

Full List of Bank Owned Homes OVER $225,000

Bank owned homes in Central Oregon can be anywhere from move in ready to almost needing to be torn down.  Some of these homes have been vacant for a year or more and some of them were just recently vacated.  Many times there is deferred maintenance and sometimes they are pristine.

Unlike Bend Short Sales, you will not wait weeks to months for an answer from the bank.  A bank owned home can move through the purchase process just as it would if the home were a traditional sale.  The bank has already taken their loss and is ready to sell these homes.

Many bank owned homes offer to pay the buyers closing costs right up front and even if they do not many times these costs can be covered when you write your contract.  When purchasing a bank owned home using an agent that understands the area, what is happening in the market and has good relationships with the listing agents that the banks use can make your bank owned home purchase go much more smoothly.

Ever since the collapse of the real estate market buyers and sellers alike have had multiple questions about short sales.  The Bend real estate market has seen and continues to see it’s fair share of short sales.  The good news to both buyers and sellers is that Short Sales are getting closed and they are doing so in a shorter period of time than we saw at the beginning of this environment in most cases.

Bend Oregon Short Sales

These listings are just a sample of homes currently listed as short sales in the $100,000 price range. At the bottom of this post you will find a link to an entire list of homes currently listed as short sales in Bend Oregon.
 

 

Searching for homes and including short sales online can be very frustrating for the Central Oregon buyer. There are some simple explanations but it does not make it any less frustrating.

Quick Over View of Short Sale Process

• The home is listed typically at the low end of fair market value.  This brings a quicker offer obviously.
• A buyer makes a written offer
• The listing agent changes the status to – Contingent Short Sale – which means the seller has accepted the offer and the seller and seller’s agent is waiting on the bank to approve the written offer.
• The property still shows on websites as available – because although the seller has accepted the offer they do not know if the bank will accept the offer…. so there is always a chance that the seller will be starting over so the marketing does not stop.
• When the bank accepts the written offer – the Listing agent will change the status to pending and it will no longer show as available online.

The message in the steps above is to realize that even though these homes show active, do not be surprised if you call, drive by or ask me to show you a home, I may tell you there are other offers on it.

Bend Short Sale Properties

иконописПравославни икониCentral Oregon Short sales are confusing to almost every party involved.  Many times a listing agent without the proper experience or without the proper guidance does not realize who they are truly working for.  Often they will actually act on behalf of the bank instead of the seller.

A listing agent represents the Seller and only the seller.  Once a seller accepts an offer of a short sale the offer is submitted to the bank along with additional or updated financials from the seller, an estimated HUD statement and then the process begins.

Once the seller has accepted an offer and it is submitted to the lender or lenders the property is now Contingent Short sale in the Central Oregon MLS, or should be.  In theory the seller has agreed to sell the home, for the terms and conditions set in your offer.

Not All Agents Are Created Equal

Notice I say in theory, you see not all listing agents are equal when it comes to accepting offers, submitting offers or even understanding the process.  If you are willing to look at a short sale as your potential new home or investment home  then you need to understand that not all agents process a short sale the same.

Knowing what the listing agent is going to do, if they are going to change the MLS status, if they are going to work through one offer before submitting others to the bank and so on are very important facts that you as a buyer should know so you know what to expect on the process of your transaction.

If in doubt it may not hurt to have your agent (and you should have your own agent on any real estate transaction but on a short sale especially) to write these terms into your offer.

It is my personal opinion and those of many of the instructors of the classes I have attended that once a seller accepts an offer – any additional offers go into a back up position.  After all a seller can only sell a home once – be careful out there not everyone is qualified to help you through a short sale.

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Your Perfect Home a Short Sale?

You have found the perfect home in Central Oregon, and you discover it is a short sale!  One of the most common questions is…. How long will it take to buy this home?  The answer is not simple; it just depends on a lot of different conditions.

What is a Short Sale?

A short sale (sometimes called a pre-foreclosure) is a home offered for sale at a price that will not pay the entire amount owed to the lender, the closing costs and so on.  So, why or how can someone list the property for less than they owe?  Market conditions, do not support the amount owed on the home.  However there must be a hardship, the bank that is owed the money will not take a loss just because the seller has decided they don’t want to own a home that may have lost value.  History shows that Real Estate trends go up and down today may be a down market – but over time this will change.

The Seller is Upside Down is NOT Reason Enough

If you owe more than you think your home is worth today that is not a good reason to short sale.  If you continue to make your payments and ride the market out the day will come when your home is worth more than you owe.

The home that is on the market today as a short sale can be a great deal, if you are patient.  However statistics show that only about 40% of these transactions actually close escrow.  The reason is not necessarily because of the bank, but that the buyer gets impatient and wants a home they can move into in a shorter period of time.

The agent that has a home listed as a short sale will need to be in constant contact with the bank.  As a buyer your agent can be as on top of things and aggressive as can be but if the seller’s agent does not know what to do or how to do it the buyer can sit and wait in frustration.  More and more agents are educating themselves as to the short sale process and banks seem to be getting through the process a little quicker to.

Personally I do not think the short sale home is the perfect home for a first time home buyer.  A short sale takes time, and the frustration of waiting can kill the excitement of the first time home buyer, not to mention that lending programs change rapidly and the loan you plan to use may no longer be available when you finally get the approval from the bank on the price and terms of the short sale.

Sunriver has not had the number of short sales or bank owned properties that the rest of Central Oregon has seen.  But there are a few great homes to choose from that fall into this category, remember not to limit yourselves to just the bank owned or short sale, a lot of  sellers have lowered their prices to compete with the bank owned and short sales in Sunriver.

Click here for your List of Bank Owned and Short Sale Homes in Sunriver